{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,17]],"date-time":"2026-10-17T21:14:11Z","timestamp":1792271651483,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]],"date-time":"2025-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762819200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010621","name":"Medical University of Lublin","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PBmb\/sd Nr 70"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PBmb\/sd Nr 70"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010621","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010621","name":"Medical University of Lublin","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DS 24"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DS 24"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010621","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010621","name":"Medical University of Lublin","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UM-CTW-10\/2021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UM-CTW-10\/2021"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010621","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Lepidium meyenii Walpers (syn. Lepidium peruvianum Chacon) has been cultivated for centuries in the Peruvian Andes as both a vegetable and a traditional medicine resource. Maca is classified as a superfood and is widely used as a dietary supplement, particularly noted for its potential to enhance endurance, fertility, and endocrine balance. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the cytotoxic effects of lepidilines and their derivatives; however, these compounds have been less extensively studied due to challenges associated with their isolation. This study aims to establish optimal extraction conditions to enrich lepidiline content in the extracts and to propose an efficient isolation method for four lepidilines using a green purification technique known as Centrifugal Partition Chromatography (CPC). The isolated compounds will be evaluated for their anticancer potential utilizing the MTT assay on SK-N-SH (ATCC\u00ae HTB-11\u2122) and SK-N-AS (ATCC\u00ae CRL-2137\u2122) neuroblastoma cell lines. The findings indicate that Soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane resulted in the highest recovery of lepidilines, with a content of 10.24% expressed as lepidiline A. The optimal biphasic solvent mixture suitable for CPC chromatographic applications was identified as a combination of chloroform, methanol, and water (4:3:2 v\/v\/v) containing 60 mM HCl. When utilized in conjunction with semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), this method successfully isolated lepidilines A\u2013D, achieving a purity exceeding 95%. Notably, lepidiline B exhibited the highest cytotoxic potential, with an IC50 value of 14.85 \u00b5g\/mL in SK-N-AS cells.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules30224360","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]],"date-time":"2025-11-11T10:56:27Z","timestamp":1762858587000},"page":"4360","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Purification of Lepidilines A, B, C, and D from Lepidium meyenii Walpers by Centrifugal Partition Chromatography Followed by Semi-Preparative HPLC and Preliminary Evaluation of Anticancer Activity Against Neuroblastoma Cell Lines"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"30","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2718-6269","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dominik","family":"Tarabasz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacognosy with Medicinal Plants Garden, Medical University of Lublin, 1 Chodzki Str., 20-093 Lublin, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3810-8247","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Estera","family":"Oko\u0144","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of Lublin, 1 Chodzki Str., 20-093 Lublin, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2388-4577","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Wawruszak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of Lublin, 1 Chodzki Str., 20-093 Lublin, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4937-0822","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stavros","family":"Beteinakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5100-0321","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Apostolis","family":"Angelis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Henry O.","family":"Meissner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, 158-160 Hawkesbury Road, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leandros A.","family":"Skaltsounis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pharmacognosy and Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7076-600X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wirginia","family":"Kukula-Koch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacognosy with Medicinal Plants Garden, Medical University of Lublin, 1 Chodzki Str., 20-093 Lublin, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126021","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodchem.2019.126021","article-title":"Solvent and Temperature Effect of Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) Coupled with Ultra-High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC-PDA) for the Determination of Methyl Xanthines in Commercial Tea and Coffee","volume":"311","author":"Ahmad","year":"2020","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1157","DOI":"10.1097\/gme.0b013e3181732953","article-title":"Beneficial Effects of Lepidium Meyenii (Maca) on Psychological Symptoms and Measures of Sexual Dysfunction in Postmenopausal Women Are Not Related to Estrogen or Androgen Content","volume":"15","author":"Brooks","year":"2008","journal-title":"Menopause"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1439-0272.2008.00892.x","article-title":"Subjective Effects of Lepidium Meyenii (Maca) Extract on Well-Being and Sexual Performances in Patients with Mild Erectile Dysfunction: A Randomised, Double-Blind Clinical Trial","volume":"41","author":"Zenico","year":"2009","journal-title":"Andrologia"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ulloa Del Carpio, N., Alvarado-Corella, D., Qui\u00f1ones-Laveriano, D.M., Araya-Sibaja, A., Vega-Baudrit, J., Monagas-Juan, M., Navarro-Hoyos, M., and Villar-L\u00f3pez, M. 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