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Lipoxygenase inhibitory activities of methanol extracts of forty-two commercially available spices were assayed spectrophotometrically at 234 ㎚ using a soybean lipoxygenase (SBL). Among commercial spices tested, the methanol extract of nutmeg spice showed potent free radical scavenging and lipoxygenase inhibitory activity. To isolate the active compounds, hence, commercially ground nutmeg spice was first washed with n-hexane twice and then extracted with 90% methanol. The methanol extract was further partitioned with ether, ethylacetate, and n-butanol successively. Ethylacetate extract. was subjected to column chromatography over Sephadex LH-20 and reversed phase Octadecyl (C_(18)), and the final purification was achieved by preparative HPLC. As a result, the isolated component was identified as tetraol by ¹H-NMR and ^(13)C-NMR spectroscopy. Tetraol showed a potent inhibitory activity against a SBL, comparable to that of a well-known lipoxygenase inhibitor, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA).
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