Terpenoids from Alpinia galanga and their acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity.

A new labdane diterpene (1), two new norsesquiterpenoids (2-3), as well as eight known terpenoids (4-11) were isolated from the seeds of Alpinia galanga (Zingiberaceae). Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by 1D, 2D NMR, MS, and comparison of their experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD). The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activities of all the isolated compounds (1-11) were evaluated and the result showed that compounds 6 and 9 had inhibitory activity against AChE, with IC50 values at 295.70 and 183.91 µM, whereas other compounds did not show any inhibitory activity.