Medicinal foodstuffs. XXXI. Structures of new aromatic constituents and inhibitors of degranulation in RBL-2H3 cells from a Japanese folk medicine, the stem bark of Acer nikoense.

Four new aromatic constituents, rhododendroketoside, (-)-sakuraresinoside, acernikol, and nikoenoside, were isolated from a Japanese folk medicine, the stem bark of Acer nikoense MAXIM. The structures of the new constituents were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. The principle cyclic diarylheptanoids were found to show inhibitory effects on the release of beta-hexosaminidase in RBL-2H3 cells.