New benzaldehyde derivatives from the fruiting bodies of Hericium erinaceus with cytotoxic activity.

Four new natural compounds named hericenone O ( 1 ), hericenone P ( 2 ), hericenone Q ( 3 ), and hericenone R ( 4 ), two of them were reported synthetically ( 3 - 4 ), together with eleven known compounds were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Hericium erinaceus. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by using NMR analysis and mass spectrometry, as well as comparisons with the reported data in the literature. The bioactivity evaluation revealed that hericenone Q showed significant cytotoxic activity against Hep-G2 with IC ₅₀ values of 23.89 μM, and against HCT-116 with IC ₅₀ values of 65.64 μM.