Secondary metabolites from the unripe pulp of Persea americana and their antimycobacterial activities.

The fruits of Persea americana (Avocado) are nowadays used as healthy fruits in the world. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the active ethyl acetate soluble fraction has led to the isolation of five new fatty alcohol derivatives, avocadenols A-D (1-4) and avocadoin (5) from the unripe pulp of P. americana, along with 12 known compounds (6-17). These structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. Among the isolates, avocadenol A (1), avocadenol B (2), (2R,4R)-1,2,4-trihydroxynonadecane (6), and (2R,4R)-1,2,4-trihydroxyheptadec-16-ene (7) showed antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)R(V)in vitro, with MIC values of 24.0, 33.8, 24.9, and 35.7 μg/ml, respectively.