Lipoxygenase Inhibitor from Defatted Nutmeg Seed

Lipoxygenase inhibitory acitivity of the methanolic extract of 60 different kinds of plant seeds was determined by a spectrophotometric method using a soybean lipoxigenase(SLO) and linolenic acid. Among the extracts examined, the methanolic extract of nutmeg(Myristical fragrans)seed showed the most potent SLO inhibitory activity. To isolate SLO inhibitor, hence, the defatted methanol extract was further partitioned with ether, ehtylacetate , and n-butanol , stepwise. The ether souble fraction was successively chromatographed on silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 and preparative TLC. Three phenolic compounds were isolated , and one of them showing a strong SLO inhibition activity was identified as a 2,6-dihydroxy-9-(3', 4', -dihydroxyphenyl)nonylphenone (IC50a=0.39$\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) by 1H-& 13C0NMR, IR, and MS spectroscopy.