New Sesquiterpene and Polymethoxy-Flavonoids from Artemisia annua L

Our previous study revealed that the polymethoxy-flavonoids, as main components of Artemisia annua, could improve the antimalarial activity of Artemisinin. Here, we described the isolation, elucidation, constituent analysis, flavonoids enrichment of the extracts of A. annua. A total of 20 compounds were isolated including a new sesquiterpene (compound 12) and five (1, 5, 6, 7, 15) afforded for the first time from A. annua. The elucidation of eight flavonoids may be a useful phytochemical data and chemical foundation for further mechanism studies on improving the anti-malarial action of artemisinin. Furthermore, the antitumor activities of the compounds were assayed using four different kinds of human cancer cell lines.