Bioactive triterpenoids from Indonesian medicinal plant Syzygium aqueum

A large common species, Syzygium aqueum, belonging to the genus Syzygium possesses numerous bioactive phytochemical constituents. Moreover, the different parts of this species have been used as folk medicine since centuries ago. In this study, a phytochemical exploration was carried out on the plant's stem bark. Isolation of the compounds was carried out through the extraction step with some organic solvents, followed by separation and purification using chromatography techniques until the two triterpenoids were isolated from nonpolar and semipolar extracts. Structure elucidation was done using spectroscopic methods. These compounds were identified as alphitolic acid and arjunolic acid. Subsequently, these two compounds were used in anticancer tests against human cancer cells HeLa, T47D, and A549 using colorimetric assay. The result showed that both compounds showed more inhibition of the growth of HeLa and T47D than A549 cancer cells, with the highest activity shown by arjunolic acid against HeLa cell lines.