Flavonoids and other constituents from Aletris spicata and their chemotaxonomic significance.

Eleven compounds, including four flavonoids [(2R,3R)-2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyflavone (1), 5-hydroxy-7,8,4'-trimethoxy-flavone (2), amentoflavone (10) and apigenin (11)], two penylpropanoids [sinapaldehyde (3) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-cinnamic aldehyde (4)], three phenolic acids [4-hydroxyl-3,5-dimethoxy-benzaldehyde (5), 4-hydroxyacetophen-one (6) and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (7)], one furan derivative [5-hydroxymethyl furfural (8)] and one steroid saponin [β-sitosterol-3-O-β-d-glucoside (9)], were isolated and identified from Aletris spicata. Among them, compounds 1-7, 9 and 10 were reported from the genus Aletris for the first time. Furthermore, seven of them (1-6, 10) were obtained from the family Liliaceae for the first time. Chemotaxonomy of the isolated compounds is discussed briefly.