Prenylated xanthones from the bark of Garcinia xanthochymus and their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities.

Garcinia xanthochymus has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for expelling worms and removing food toxins. Bioassay-guided fractionation of an EtOAc-soluble extract of G. xanthochymus stem bark led to the isolation of six new xanthones. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, especially 2D-NMR techniques. Free-radical-scavenging activities of the isolated compounds were elucidated through DPPH method. Most of the isolated compounds showed considerable free radical scavenging activity on DPPH assay. Compound 1 exhibited effective antioxidant scavenging activity against DPPH radical with an IC₅₀ value of 19.64 μM, and compound 6 showed the lowest activity among all the tested molecules, with an IC₅₀ value of 66.88 μM. These findings support the notion that the plant genus Garcinia is a good source of bioactive compounds.