Essential Oil and other Constituents from Magnolia ovata Fruit

The volatile and non-volatile constituents of the unripe fruits of Magnolia ovata (A. St.-Hil.) Spreng. (Magnoliaceae) were studied. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation of the fruit of two plant populations (A and B) and analyzed by GC/FID and GC/MS. The oil of sample A was rich in sesquiterpenes, mainly spathulenol (19.3%), while the oil of sample B showed a predominance of aliphatic compounds, mainly hexadecanoic acid (52.0%). Extracts of the dried fruit contained fourteen known compounds including nine lignoids (magnovatin A, magnovatin B, acuminatin, licarin A, oleiferin A, oleiferin C, kadsurenin M, 4-O-demethylkadsurenim M and 7-epi-virolin), two sesquiterpene lactones (parthenolide and michelenolide) and three alkaloids (lysicamine, lanuginosine and O-methylmoschatoline). Michelenolide, 7-epi-virolin and lisycamine are reported for the first time in the species, while the remaining compounds have already been reported in the leaves and/or trunk bark of Magnolia ovata. Acetylation of oleiferin A yielded a new compound, acetyl oleiferin A, whose NMR data and that of michelenolide are furnished.