Polyphenols from Eriobotrya japonica and their cytotoxicity against human oral tumor cell lines.

Three new flavonoid glycosides, together with 15 known flavonoids, have been isolated from the leaves of Eriobotrya japonica, and characterized as (2S)- and (2R)-naringenin 8-C-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosides, and cinchonain Id 7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, respectively, based on spectral analyses including two dimensional (2D) NMR techniques. Higher proanthocyanidin fraction in the water-soluble portion of the extract was characterized as a procyanidin oligomer mixture mainly composed of undecameric procyanidin. These polyphenols have also been assessed for cytotoxic activity against two human oral tumor (human squamous cell carcinoma and human salivary gland tumor) cell lines. Selective cytotoxicity of the procyanidin oligomer between tumor and normal gingival fibroblast cells, and its possible mechanism, were also described.