Cytotoxic Withanolides from Physalis angulata L.

Four new withanolides, physagulins L–O ( 1 – 4 ), were isolated from the MeOH extract of the aerial parts of Physalis angulata L. (Solanaceae), together with seven known withanolides, compounds 5 – 11 . Their structures were determined by spectroscopic techniques, including 1 H‐, 13 C‐NMR (DEPT), and 2D‐NMR (HMBC, HMQC, 1 H, 1 H‐COSY, NOESY) experiments, as well as by HR‐MS. All eleven compounds were tested for their antiproliferative activities towards human colorectal‐carcinoma (HCT‐116) and human non‐small‐cell lung‐cancer (NCI‐H460) cells. Compound 5 exhibited the highest anticancer activity against the HCT‐116 cell line, with an IC 50 value of 1.64±0.06 μ M . Compound 9 exhibited the highest cytotoxicity towards the NCI‐H460 cell line, with an IC 50 value of 0.43±0.02 μ M ( Table 3 ).