p-Coumaroylamino Acids from Yeast-Elicited Ephedra distachya Cultures

Three p-coumaroylamino acids (p-CAAs) were isolated from the yeast-elicited Ephedra distachya cultures by consecutive purification using XAD_2, silicagel and RP-HPLC. Retention times on HPLC as well as their UV, IR, NMR and MS spectral data indicated that the yeast-induced p-CAAs wre p-coumaroyl--D-valine, p-coumaroyl-D-serine and p-coumarouyl-D-threonine, respectively. The structures of p-CAAs were confirmed by the comparison of their physico-chemical properties 3with those of synthetic ones. They were isolated and identified for the first time from natural products and supposed to be accumulated as phytoalexins of Ephedra.