Characterization of Chemical Constituents of <i>Luffa operculata</i>(Cucurbitaceae)

A mixture of new ceramides (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) together with a binary mixture of ceramides with long chain alkyl (6 and 7), triterpenoid (10) and steroids (11 and 12) have been isolated from bark of the fruits and of the stems of Luffa operculata (Cucurbitaceae). The structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectro- scopic analysis including 1H and 13C NMR, DEPT (distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer), COSY (correlated spectroscopy), HMQC (heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence), HMBC (heteronu- clear multiple bond connectivity), IR (infrared), HR-ESI-MS (electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectra) and LR-MS (low resolution electron ionization mass spectra) experiments. All the ceramides are reported for the first time in Cucurbitaceae and this is the first report of the rare triterpene 10 isolated from Luffa operculata. The ceramides 6 and 7 showed a high acetylcholine esterase inhibitory effect.