Phenolics from Durian Exert Pronounced NO Inhibitory and Antioxidant Activities

Durian, known as the king of fruits, is native to Southeast Asia and popular in many countries. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the peel of durian was applied to determine its bioactive constituents. Four novel phenolics, along with 16 known, were purified and identified. Four novel phenolics were elucidated to be durianol A (1), durianol B (2), durianol C (3), and 5'-methoxy-7'-epi-jatrorin A (4), respectively. The antioxidant and NO inhibitory activities were evaluated for the isolated phenolics. Some phenolics showed significant antioxidant activity in the DPPH and superoxide anion radical scavenging capacity assay. Most of the phenolics revealed pronounced inhibitory effects on NO production in murine RAW 264.7 cells induced by LPS, which showed more potent NO inhibitory activity compared to indomethacin. The results strongly demonstrated that the phenolics may be partially responsible for durian's NO inhibitory activity.