Chemical constituents from the tubers of Pinellia ternata (Araceae) and their chemotaxonomic interest

This work describes the isolation and characterization of twenty compounds from the tubers of Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit, including 17 lignanoids (1–17) and three alkaloids (18–20). All structures were established based on analysis of their spectroscopic data. It is the first report of compounds 3–11 and 13–18 from the genus Pinellia, and the first report of compounds 3–4, 6–9, 11 and 13–18 from the family Araceae. In addition, the biosynthetic pathways of the 17 lignanoids are summarized. A liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QTOFMS/MS) method in both positive and negative ion mode was also used to confirm the identity of these seventeen lignanoids from the tubers of P. ternata. The results from the present work provide further information about the diversity of compounds in the genus Pinellia.