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Updated: Aug 22, 2025

Author Spotlight: Discovering New Alkaloids in Plants with Advanced Mass Spectrometry Techniques
Published on: March 8, 2024
The bioactive amide alkaloids from the stems of Piper nigrum
Jie Xu1, Yulu Wei2, Qingyu Liu3
1Department of Pharmacy, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China; Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery (Wuhan University), Ministry of Education, and Wuhan University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China.
Abstract:
Piper nigrum is an important aromatic plant, and its fruits (black and white pepper) are commonly used as food additives and spices. However, its stems were disposed as wastes. This research comprehensively investigated bioactive alkaloids of the stems, eight new dimeric amide alkaloids and eight known compounds were obtained. All obtained compounds showed excellent anti-inflammatory activity. Additionally, the dimeric amide alkaloids enhanced the anticancer effect of paclitaxel against cervical cancer cells. These results demonstrate that the stems of P. nigrum could be the sustainable source of bioactive alkaloids for development and utilization in the food and health fields.
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