Psidium guajava L., a species native to South America, has been widely cultivated in the tropical and subtropical areas of China for its popular fruits. The preliminary analysis by liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (LC-UV) indicated the presence of meroterpenoids in the fruits of P. guajava (guava). Subsequent fractionation of the petroleum ether extract resulted in the identification of two new meroterpenoids, psiguajavadials A (1) and B (2), together with 14 previously described meroterpenoids (3-16). Their structures were fully elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic techniques and theoretical calculations. All of the meroterpenoids showed cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines, with guajadial B (12) being the most effective having an IC value of 150 nM toward A549 cells. Furthermore, biochemical topoisomerase I (Top1) assay revealed that psiguajavadial A (1), psiguajavadial B (2), guajadial B (12), guajadial C (14), and guajadial F (16) acted as Top1 catalytic inhibitors and delayed Top1 poison-mediated DNA damage. The flow cytometric analysis indicated that the new meroterpenoids psiguajavadials A (1) and B (2) could induce apoptosis of HCT116 cells. These data suggest that meroterpenoids from guava fruit could be used for the development of antitumor agents.

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Eucalyptusdimers A-C, three dimeric phellandrene-derived meroterpenoids featuring an unprecedented, fused skeleton between two phellandrene and two acylphloroglucinol subunits, along with one biogenetically related intermediate, (±)-eucalyprobusone A, were isolated from the fruits of Eucalyptus robusta. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated using spectroscopic data, X-ray crystallography, and electronic circular dichroism analysis. The isolated meroterpenoids were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory, acetylcholinesterase inhibitory, and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitory effects.