Biol. Pharm. Bull.

Biol. Pharm. Bull., 29(6),1271-1274, June 2006

Notes

Phytoestrogens from Aspalathus linearis

Naomi SHIMAMURA,^a Toshio MIYASE,^*^,a Kaoru UMEHARA,^a Tsutomu WARASHINA^b and Satoshi FUJII^a

^a School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka; and ^b Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka; 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: miyase@ys7.u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp

From the leaves of Aspalathus linearis, 24 known compounds and a new one, aspalalinin (25), were isolated. The structures of the compounds were determined mainly based on spectral evidence. The absolute configuration of aspalalinin was presented on the basis of X-ray analysis. Each isolate was assessed for its estrogenic activity by an estrogen ELISA assay. Compounds 12, 15, and 24 showed the estrogenic activity.

Key words Aspalathus linearis; Leguminosae; phytoestrogen; dihydrochalcone

Notes

Phytoestrogens from Aspalathus linearis

Naomi SHIMAMURA,a Toshio MIYASE,*,a Kaoru UMEHARA,a Tsutomu WARASHINAb and Satoshi FUJIIa

a School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka; and b Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka; 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: miyase@ys7.u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp

Naomi SHIMAMURA,^a Toshio MIYASE,^*^,a Kaoru UMEHARA,^a Tsutomu WARASHINA^b and Satoshi FUJII^a

^a School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka; and ^b Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Shizuoka; 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan. * To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: miyase@ys7.u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp