Insect antifeedant furanocoumarins from Tetradium daniellii.

The dried fruits of Tetradium daniellii yielded a new linear furanocoumarin, 5-(6-hydroxy-3,7-dimethylocta-2,7-dienyloxy)psoralen, together with six other structurally related furanocoumarins. A similar chemical profile was recorded by HPLC analysis of a fragment of T. daniellii fruit obtained from an historic herbarium voucher specimen collected in September 1917 during an expedition to Yunnan province, China. Four of the compounds identified caused a potent feeding deterrent effect towards larvae of Spodoptera littoralis and Heliothis virescens.