Pinoresinol from Ipomoea cairica cell cultures.

Ipomoea cairica cell cultures produced a tetrahydrofuran lignan, (+)-pinoresinol, identified by UV, IR, MS and NMR methods, not yet found in the intact plant, and new in the Convolvulaceae family. Pinoresinol was found to have antioxidant and Ca2+ antagonist properties. As it could be requested for its biological activity, we examined the possibility to raise the pinoresinol yield of I. cairica cultures, as well as we continued investigations on lignans' response to optimization.