BIOACTIVE METABOLITES FROM SICILIAN MARINE FENNEL, CRITHMUM-MARITIMUM

Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the lipid extract of Crithmum maritimum using the brine shrimp lethality assay led to the isolation of three bioactive compounds. Two of these are known C-17 polyacetylenic metabolites, falcarinol [1] and falcarindiol [2], previously isolated from several species of the Umbelliferae and Araliaceae. The third active principle was identified as O-geranylvanillin [3], an aromatic ether described in the literature as a synthetic compound but unknown as a natural product. Cytotoxic activity of the pure compounds was significant for 1 and 2, much less intense for 3.