Study on the chemical composition of the stems and leaves of Phytolacca americana

The stems and leaves of Phytolacca americana were phytochemically investigated, leading to the isolation and identification of nine compounds. Two new compounds, 6,7-dimethoxy-4β-hydroxypeltogynane (1) and phytolaccamide A (2) were characterized, with compound 1 assigned an absolute configuration of 2R, 3S, 4S. Compounds 1, 3 and 4 represrent rare peltogynane-type structures. Preliminary in vitro antibacterial and antifungal screening showed no obvious inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ATCC 29213 or Candida albicans ATCC 10231 at 100 μM.