DIHYDROBENZOFURAN NEO-LIGNAN DERIVATIVES ISOLATED FROM THE WHOLE PLANTS OF LYCOPODIELLA CERNUA AND THEIR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY

Abstract

The entire plants of Lycopodiella cernua L. are utilized in Vietnam and China as traditional herbal medicine due to their anti-inflammatory activity and neuroprotective effect. In this current research, four dihydrobenzofuran neolignan derivatives (1–4) have been purified from the ethanol extract of L. cernua. Through the analysis of their observed and reported spectroscopic data, their structures were determined to be lycocernuaside A (1), dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol 4'-β-Dglucoside (2), lycocernuaside C (3), and cedrusin (4). Additionally, the DPPH radical-scavenging abilities of substances were assessed. Notably, compounds 3 and 4 showed potent DPPH scavenging capacity, with ED50 data of 8.6 ± 0.2 and 13.7 ± 0.4 μM, respectively. The effects were similar to ascorbic acid (ED50 = 23.6 ± 0.8 μM), the positive control. The findings suggest the potential in vitro antioxidant activity of dihydrobenzofuran neolignane derivatives from L. cernua. Nevertheless, further investigations, both in vivo and in silico, are necessary to confirm their therapeutic antioxidant effects.