Plants of the genus Pulicaria are known for providing traditional medicines, spices,
herbal teas, and insect deterrents. Pulicaria inuloides (Poir.). DC. is one of the less chemically studied species within the genus. Hydroalcoholic extracts from roots and aerial parts of P. inuloides were analyzed using the UHPLC-PAD-MSn technique and revealed the presence of six caffeoylquinic and eleven caffeoylhexaric conjugates together with hydroxykaempferol
dimethyl ether and
quercetagetin trimethyl
ether. Moreover, constituents of
chloroform extract from the whole P. inuloides plants were isolated and identified by spectroscopic methods. One new and four known
caryophyllene derivatives, three
thymol derivatives, and four polymethoxylated
flavonols were found in the analyzed extract. The structure of the new compound was established by spectroscopic methods (HRESIMS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, NOESY). The cytotoxicity of 6-Hydroxykaempferol 3,7-dimethyl
ether and
quercetagetin 3,7,3’-trimethyl
ether (
chrysosplenol C), which are major
flavonols isolated from the plant, were tested on prostate epithelial cells (PNT2),
prostate cancer cells (DU145 and PC3), human keratinocytes (HaCaT), and
melanoma cells (HTB140 and A375). Both
flavonols demonstrated moderate cytotoxic activity against PC3 cells (IC50 = 59.5 µM and 46.6 µM, respectively). The remaining cell lines were less affected (IC50 > 150 µM).