Cucurbitane-type triterpenes from Citrullus lanatus (watermelon) seeds.

Two new cucurbitane-type triterpenes, 24-hydroperoxycucurbita-5,25-dien-3beta-ol (1) and 25-hydroperoxycucurbita-5,23-dien-3beta-ol (2), were isolated from a MeOH extract of Citrullus lanatus seeds. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activities with IC50 values of 33.4-52.4 microM against HL-60 (human leukemia), P388 (murine leukemia), and L1210 (murine leukemia) cells. Compound 1 showed melanogenesis inhibitory activity (melanin content 80.0 %) with low cytotoxicity (cell viability 97.6%) at a low concentration (10 microM).