Antiplasmodial benzophenones from the trunk latex of Moronobea coccinea (Clusiaceae).

In an effort to find antimalarial drugs, a systematic in vitro evaluation on a chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum (FcB1) was undertaken on sixty plant extracts collected in French Guiana. The methanol extract obtained from the latex of Moronobea coccinea exhibited a strong antiplasmodial activity (95% at 10microg/ml). The phytochemical investigation of this extract led to the isolation of eleven polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs), from which eight showed potent antiplasmodial activity with IC50 ranged from 3.3microM to 37.2microM.