Abstract
Although the various folk medicine uses and the biological activity of Forsskaolea tenacissima L., few chemical constituents of this plant have been reported, this provoked us to make our study. Forsskamide, a new ceramide was isolated from aerial parts of F. tenacissima L. (Urticaceae). The chemical structure was established by different spectroscopic methods (
1
H,
13
C-NMR, HMBC, HSQC, ROESY, FAB-MS and HR-FAB-MS). Forsskamide showed a moderate cytotoxic activity by (MTT) method against human colorectal carcinoma cell line (HCT-116) with IC
50
33.25 μM in comparison with 5-fluorouracil IC
50
26.42 μM. While, it did not show any activity against human hepatocarcinaoma cell line (HepG-2).