[Chemical constituents of Momordica charantia L].

Momordica charantia L. is a vegetable widely cultivated around the world. Its fruits have been used in Asian countries as a folk medicine for the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Here we report eight compounds isolated from the fruits of M. charantia. On the basis of NMR and MS spectroscopic analyses, these compounds were identified as momordicolide ((10E)-3-hydroxyl-dodeca-10-en-9-olide, 1), monordicophenoide A (4-hydroxyl-benzoic acid 4-O-beta-D-apiofuranosyl (1 --> 2)-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 2), dihydrophaseic acid 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), 6,9-dihydroxy-megastigman-4,7-dien-3-one (blumenol, 4), guanosine (5), adenosine (6), uracil (7) and cytosine (8). Among them, 1 and 2 are new compounds. Compounds 3-5 were isolated from this plant for the first time.