Preliminary Study of Phenolic Glycosides fromOriganum majorana, Quantitative Estimation of Arbutin; Cytotoxic Activity of Hydroquinone

Arbutin and methylarbutin as well as their aglycones, hydroquinone, and hydroquinone monomethyl ether, were isolated and identified in the aqueous alcoholic extract of Origanum majorana L. Arbutin was estimated quantitatively by chromatospectrophotometric and HPLC techniques. It was also found that hydroquinone shows a potent cytotoxicity on cultured rat hepatoma cells (HTC).