Abstract: Eight anthraquinones were isolated from the Chinese medicine:Morinda officinalis,using silica gel column chromatography and preparative HPLC.Those anthraquinones were identified as 2-hydroxymethyl-3-hydroxyanthraquinone(1),(3-hydroxy-2-hydroxymethyl-1-methoxyanthraquinone(2),2-hydroxy-1-methoxyanthraquinone(3),3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethoxyanthraquinone(4)，rubiadin-1-methyl ether(5),1,3-dihydroxy-2-methoxyanthraquinone(6),ibericin(7)and 1,2-dihydroxy-3-methylanthraquinone(8)on the basis of spectral data and comparison with literatures.Anthraquinone(2)was isolated from this plant for the first time.The anticancer activities of those anthraquinones were screened by MTT assay.Results showed that three anthraquinones(3,5 and 7)had obvious inhibitory effects on the proliferation of hepatic carcinoma cell lines(SMMC-7721) in vitro.When the concentration of anthraquinone was 400 μmol/L,inhibitory rates of anthraquiones(3,5 and 7)against SMMC-7721 reached 44.63%,20.52% and 54.89%,respectively.

Key words: Morinda officinalis, anthraquinone, 3-hydroxy-2-hydroxymethyl-1-methoxyanthraquinone, bioactivity