New Dammarane Triterpenoids, Caffruones A–D, from the Cherries of Coffea arabica

Coffea arabica L. (Rubiaceae) is the most economic significant species in the coffee trade, occupying 69% of the world’s coffee production [ 1 ]. Yunnan province is the main cultivation base of coffee in China, and the cultivated species is almost C. arabica . In 2016, the total coffee production of Yunnan province was nearly 140 thousand tons [ 2 ]. Research found that coffee consumption has a variety of beneficial effects on human health, like anti-Alzheimer’s disease [ 3 ], anti-diabetes [ 4 ] and anti-cancers [ 5 ]. Previous phytochemical investigations on green and roasted coffee beans have resulted in the isolation of caffeine, trigonelline, chlorogenic acids, phenolic acids and a series of ent -kaurane diterpenoids [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. All of them contributed to the healthy functions of coffee brews [ 9 , 10 ]. However, to our best knowledge, there is no research has been focused on the chemical constituents of the coffee cherries. Therefore, as part of our systematic phytochemical investigation on C. arabica cultivated in Yunnan province, we isolated four new dammarane triterpenoids ( 1 – 4 ) (Fig. 1 ) from the coffee cherries. This is the first time that dammarane triterpenoids have been reported in genus Coffea . Herein, the isolation and structural elucidation of all isolates were described.