Phenolic Compounds from the Fruits of Medemia argun, a Food and Medicinal Plant of Ancient Egypt

Medemia argun is a mysterious and little known monotypic fan palm from the Nubian Desert Oases of southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Its fruits have been found in the tombs from the 5th Dynasty (ca. 2500 BC) to Roman times (6-7th century AD), including the celebrated tomb of Tutankhamun. In ancient Egypt, the fruits of this palm were widely distributed and were highly valued, as confirmed by their frequent occurrence in offerings in the tombs. In order to elucidate the chemical composition of the phenolic fraction, phytochemical investigation of the BuOH extract of fruits was carried out to afford eight compounds (1-8), among which was the new 2,4-dihydroxy-6-methylacetophenone 2-0-β-D-glucopyranoside (1). With the aim to investigate if the high shelf life of M argun fruits could be related to the occurrence of antioxidant principles that were able to prevent oxidative reactions, the evaluation was carried out of the in vitro antioxidant activity by Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay of the extract and isolated compounds.