Abstract
Repeated column chromatographic separation of the $CH_{2}Cl_{2}$ extract of Artemisia stolonofera (Asteraceae) led to the isolation of a triterpene (I), a sesquiterpene (II), two aromatic compounds (III and IV) and a benzoquinone (V). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic means to be simiarenol (I), (1S,7S)-1 $\beta$-hydroxygermacra-4(15),5, 10(14)-triene (II), 3'-methoxy-4'-hydroxy-trans-cinnamaldehyde (III), vanillin(IV) and 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (V), respectively. Among these products, compound V showed significant cytotoxicity against five human tumor cell lines in vitro, A549 (non small cell lung adenocarcinoma), SK-OV-3 (ovarian), SK-MEL-2 (skin melanoma), XF498 (CNS) and HCT15 (colon) with ED_{50}$ values ranging from 1.33~4.22${\mu}g/ml$.