Ecdysteroids from the flowers of Aerva javanica

•We isolated 4 new and 3 known ecdysteroids from flowers of Aerva javanica.•The structure was established due to spectroscopic analysis.•The relative stereochemistry was established due to NOESY and molecular model.•All compounds were weak inhibitors of the enzyme acetyl cholinesterase.

Four new ecdysteroids (1–4), along with three known steroids, β-ecdysone (5), 5-β-2-deoxyintegristerone A (6) and 24-epi-makisterone A (7) (Fig. 1), were isolated from the methanolic extract of the flowers of Aerva javanica by using normal and reverse phase chromatography. The structures of the new compounds (1–4) were determined due to 1D (1H and 13C), 2D NMR (HSQC, HMBC, COSY, NOESY) techniques and high resolution mass spectrometry (HREIMS). The known compounds (5–7) were characterized based on the 1D NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry and by comparison with the literature values. All isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and lipoxygenase (LOX).

Graphical abstractFour (1–4) new and three known (5–7) ecdysteroids were isolated from the flowers of Aerva javanica and were characterized based on 1D and 2D NMR techniques and high resolution mass spectrometry. All the isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and lipoxygenase (LOX).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide