Genus Maytenus (Celastraceae) has proved to be a good source of new bioactive sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids. Maytenus royleanus is a medicinal plant used in folk medicine for different ailments in a variety of ways around the world. Investigation of the roots of M. royleanus resulted in the isolation of an undescribed antitumor sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloid: Royleanine A (1). Its structure was established by analysis of spectroscopic data and comparison with reported data. Royleanine A (1) was evaluated for its antitumor potential against several cancer cell lines and was found to be significantly active against OVC-5 cells (ovarian cancer cell line) with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) 28.9 µg mL-1, cervical (Hela) IC50 0.064 µg mL-1 and prostate (PC 3) cancer lines with 0.034 µg mL-1.

A investigação fitoquímica das raízes de Maytenus royleanus resultou no isolamento de um novo triterpeno citotóxico, denominado ácido ficusônico, ou ácido 3β,21β-diidroxiolean-12-en29-óico, juntamente com três compostos conhecidos, ácido 3α,22β-diidroxiolean-12-en-29-óico, ácido salaspérmico e ácido ortosfênico, relatados pela primeira vez nesta espécie. Suas estruturas foram estabelecidas com base em técnicas espectroscópicas. A atividade citotóxica do composto ácido 3β,21β-diidroxiolean-12-en-29-óico foi avaliada contra duas linhagens de células de câncer: PC-3 (próstata) e HeLa (cervical). O ácido 3β,21β-diidroxiolean-12-en-29-óico apresentou fraca atividade contra PC-3 (IC50 = 35,42 µmol L-1), todavia contra HeLa (IC50 = 20,47 µmol L-1) sua atividade foi moderada.

Phytochemical investigation of the roots of Maytenus royleanus resulted into the isolation of a new cytotoxic triterpene ficusonic acid, 3β,21β-dihydroxyolean-12-en-29-oic acid, together with three known compounds, 3α,22β-dihydroxyolean-12-en-29-oic acid, salaspermic acid and orthosphenic acid, reported for the first time from this source. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic techniques. The cytotoxic activity of compound 3β,21β-dihydroxyolean-12-en-29-oic acid was evaluated against two cancer cell lines, PC-3 prostate and HeLa cervical cancer lines. 3β,21β-dihydroxyolean-12-en-29-oic acid showed weak activity against PC-3 (IC50 = 35.42 µmol L-1) however against HeLa (IC50 = 20.47 µmol L-1), its activity was moderate.