Chemical Constituents and Their Bioactivities of "Tongling White Ginger" (Zingiber officinale)

Gingerols and their corresponding dehydration products shogaols were considered as the active principles of ginger, the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, for its antioxidant, ant-inflammatory, and antitumor activities Ginger (Z. officinale) has been cultivated for thousands of years as a spice and for medicinal purposes in China. Tongling (Anhui province, China) has traditionally been regarded as an ideal cultivation place "Tongling White Ginger" enjoys a reputation for being one of the top gingers in China for its thin white peel, tender flesh, rich juice, and flavor In this study, we have isolated and identified two novel gingerdione dimers, bisgingerdiones A (1) and B (2), two new gingerol derivatives, (5R)-5-acetoxy-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)heptan-3-one (3) and methyl (Z)-neral acetal-[6]-gingerdiol (4), and 38 known compounds (5-42) from rhizomes of Zingiber officinale collected from Tongling, China. Their structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods Compounds 1-4 showed weak cytotoxic and anti-HIV-1 activities Compounds 6, 8, and 26 showed inhibitory activities against human and mouse 11 beta-HSD1 (11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases) with IC50 values between 1 09 and 1 30 mu M.