Anthemis tricolor Containing Unusual Totarol with Cytotoxic and Acetylcholinesterase-Inhibitory Activity

Anthemis tricolor is an endemic species of Cyprus, and there is very limited information on its chemistry and pharmacological activities. The study aims to identify the in-vitro cytotoxic and acetylcholinesterase activities of Anthemis tricolor. The compounds responsible for the activities were also identified. Potent extracts of A. tricolor were subjected to preparative isolation and spectral structure determination studies. The chloroform extract contained many components, and due to the small quantity of extract available, enough pure compound(s) cannot be obtained for structure determination studies, though the n-hexane extract afforded two known compounds, totarol (1) and taraxasterol (2). The structures of the compounds (1 and 2) were determined by H-1 and( 13)C NMR experiments. The pure compounds were also tested for their acetylcholinesterase inhibitory properties. For compound 1, the IC50 value was found to be 87.88 mu g/mL. However, no inhibition was seen for 2. Anthemis tricolor was established to be a valuable source of pharmacologically active compounds and requires further studies.