Constituents from Vigna vexillata and their anti-inflammatory activity.

The seeds of Vigna genus are important food resources and there have already been many reports regarding their bioactivities. In our preliminary bioassay, the chloroform layer of methanol extracts of V. vexillata demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory bioactivity. Therefore, the present research is aimed to purify and identify the anti-inflammatory principles of V. vexillata. One new sterol (1) and two new isoflavones (2,3) were reported from the natural sources for the first time and their chemical structures were determined by the spectroscopic and mass spectrometric analyses. In addition, 37 known compounds were identified by comparison of their physical and spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature. Among the isolates, daidzein (23), abscisic acid (25), and quercetin (40) displayed the most significant inhibition of superoxide anion generation and elastase release.