Study of the Coumarins Contained in the Fruits of Smyrniopsis aucheri (Apiceae)

Smyrniopsis aucheri Boiss synonym with S.armena Schisck (Apiaceae) is distributed in Iran. Our preliminary studies showed that fruits of this species are rich of coumarin and furanocoumarin compounds. On account of importance of these compounds in medicine and pharmacology, we decided to identify the nature of the coumarin and furanocoumarin compounds in fruits of this plant. fruits were powdered and then were extracted by soxhlet with n-hexane-extract were obtained with VLC using different percentages of ethyl acetate in hexane and were analyzed by TLC method. Then the compounds in fractions were isolated by column chromatography. The methanolic extracts were fractionalize with Sep-pak ODS method and the components of each fraction were purified by HPLC. the structures of purified compounds were determined by NMR spectroscopy. fifteen secondary metabolites were identified in fruits that belong to coumarins, furanocoumarins and flavonoids categories for the first time We suppose that coumarins, furanocoumarins and flavonoids in fruits of Smyrniopsis aucheri aid most probably defense action against microbial and fungal infections, control the germination of seeds and protect the plant tissues against ultraviolet radiation.