Guinea pig maximization test of the bark extract from pawpaw, Asimina triloba (Annonaceae).

Several acetogenins, characteristic of the Annonaceae, have been found to exhibit pesticidal and feeding-deterrent activities against a variety of pests and are undergoing commercial development as pesticides. The sensitizing potential of one of these plants, pawpaw, Asimina triloba Dunal, was examined in the current study. The potential of Fraction F020 (a pesticidal crude extract of pawpaw stem bark) to sensitize and elicit an allergic contact dermatitis response was determined by using a modified guinea pig maximization test (GPMT). Fraction F020 is a weak sensitizer and the active compound, asimicin, a trihydroxy-bistetrahydrofuran fatty acid gamma-lactone, is a weak irritant.

Evaluation of various parts of the paw paw tree, Asimina triloba (Annonaceae), as commercial sources of the pesticidal annonaceous acetogenins.

Various plant parts of the paw paw tree (Asimina triloba Dunal, Annonaceae) were extracted and partitioned to concentrate the mixture of acetogenins into a standardized pesticidal extract (F005). A bioassay with brine shrimp larvae (Artemia salina Leach) was used to determine the relative potencies of the various extracts. The small twigs (0-0.5 cm diameter) yielded the most potent extract (LC50 = 0.04 ppm); the stem wood (LC50 = 4.9 ppm) and leaves (LC50 = 53.7 ppm) yielded the poorest activities. The unripe fruits, seeds, root wood, root bark, and stem bark were notably potent and, generally, yielded > 2% of their dry weight as F005. The smaller diameter stems were more potent than the larger stems. We conclude that, by pollarding the trees, the entire twigs and small branches of paw paw could be processed to produce a potent acetogenin mixture; this biomass could be made available in quantities needed for commercialization of the pesticidal product and could be renewable through regrowth from the parent trunk and larger branches.

Additional bioactive compounds and trilobacin, a novel highly cytotoxic acetogenin, from the bark of Asimina triloba.

Fractionation of the EtOH extract of the bark of Asimina triloba, monitoring by brine shrimp lethality, has led to the isolation and structural elucidation of a novel highly cytotoxic Annonaceous acetogenin, trilobacin [1], in addition to six known compounds: asimicin 2], bullatacin [3], bullatacinone [4], N-p-coumaroyltyramine [5], N-trans-feruloyltyramine [6], and (+)-syringaresinol [7]. Acetogenin 1 was identified as a diastereomer of asimicin [2] by spectral and chemical methods, and both 1 and 2 showed potent and selective cytotoxicities in the NCI human tumor cell line screen.

Gigantecin: a novel antimitotic and cytotoxic acetogenin, with nonadjacent tetrahydrofuran rings, from Goniothalamus giganteus (Annonaceae).

Gigantecin (I), a novel tetrahydroxy-di-tetrahydrofuran fatty acid gamma-lactone (acetogenin), was isolated from an ethanolic extract of the stem bark of Goniothalamus giganteus Hook. f., Thomas (Annonaceae), by means of activity-directed fractionation (brine shrimp lethality test). This new compound is extremely cytotoxic to human tumor cells, inhibits crown gall tumors on potato discs, and is active in an assay designed to detect antimitotic agents (9 ASK).

Sylvaticin: a new cytotoxic and insecticidal acetogenin from Rollinia sylvatica (Annonaceae).

Sylvaticin (I), a new tetrahydroxy annonaceous acetogenin with nonadjacent tetrahydrofuran rings, has been isolated from the dried fruits of Rollinia sylvatica St. Hil. (Annonaceae). This compound is extremely cytotoxic to human tumor cells and shows promising insect control properties.