Open Access

ARTICLE

Investigation on Chemical Constituents from Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. Fruits and Evaluation of Their Anti-Inflammatory Activity

Haofan Lv¹, Qihang Zhang¹, Yufan He¹, Wuwei Xin², Wei Liu^1,*, Chunpeng Wan^1,3,*

1 University and College Key Lab of Natural Product Chemistry and Application in Xinjiang, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yili Normal University, Yining, China
2 Xinjiang Tianhongrun Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Changji, China
3 Jiangxi Key Laboratory for Postharvest Technology and Nondestructive Testing of Fruits and Vegetables, College of Agronomy, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China

* Corresponding Authors: Wei Liu. Email: ; Chunpeng Wan. Email:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2026, 95(4), 11 https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2026.076015

Received 12 November 2025; Accepted 13 March 2026; Issue published 28 April 2026

Abstract

The fruits of Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. have been traditionally utilized as both medicinal and edible resource, however, their specific phytochemical profile and anti-inflammatory mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. This study aimed to isolate and identify the chemical constituents from the fruits and evaluate their anti-inflammatory activities. The separation was performed using a combination of chromatographic techniques. The structures of the obtained compounds were elucidated using a combination of ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The anti-inflammatory activity of the compounds was initially investigated based on their capacity to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) release from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages and further validated in a zebrafish inflammatory model. The results indicated that eight compounds were successfully isolated from Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. fruits for the first time, including ursolic acid (1), corosolic acid (2), oleanolic acid (3), maslinic acid (4), 2-O-(3′,4′-dihydroxybenzoyl)-2,4,6-trihydroxyphenylacetic acid (5), neochlorogenic acid (6), chlorogenic acid (7), 3-O-p-coumaroylquinic acid (8). In the LPS-induced RAW264.7 cell model, compounds 6 and 7 exhibited stronger activity than the positive control dexamethasone (Dex, IC₅₀ = 11.13 μM ± 0.43 μM), with IC₅₀ values of 6.33 μM ± 0.18 μM and 8.06 μM ± 0.35 μM, respectively. In the LPS-induced zebrafish inflammation model, compounds 6 and 7 again demonstrated significant efficacy, exerting their anti-inflammatory effect primarily through the modulation of pro-inflammatory factors Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Interleukin-1β (IL-1β).

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Keywords

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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