Chemical constituents from roots and leaf stalks of acai (Euterpe precatoria Mart., Arecaceae).

Phytochemical investigation of the hexane, ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts of roots and leaf stalks of Euterpe precatoria Mart. ("acai"), afforded stigmast-4-en-6 beta-ol-3-one (3); p-hydroxy benzoic acid (4); 3 beta-O-D-glueopyranosyl-sitosterol (5); beta-sitosterol palmitate (6); mixtures of beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol (1 and 2), alpha-, beta-amirin and lupeol (7, 8 and 9), friedelin-3-one and 28-hydroxy-friedelin-3-one (10 and 11) and alpha-,beta-D-glucose (12, 13). Except for 1, 2 and 4, the other isolated constituents are described in the genus for the first time. Compounds 3 and 5 gave good results in the brine shrimp bioassay, which detects compounds with potential uses as antitumor agents, pesticides, etc..