Chemical constituents with chemotaxonomic value from Yunnanopilia longistaminaea

A systematic investigation was conducted on the chemical constituents of Yunnanopilia longistaminaea, a wild edible woody plant endemic to China. Twenty-two compounds, including one lactone (1), one phenolic acid (2), three phenylpropanoids (3–5), five terpenoids (6–10), eight nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds (11–18), three steroids (19–21), and one aliphatic chain compound (22), were isolated and identified. Among these, 18 compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time. An evaluating of the chemotaxonomic significance of these compounds revealed that compounds 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 22 exhibit notable distribution specificity within the genus Yunnanopilia, serving as characteristic chemotaxonomic markers for both the genus and the family Opiliaceae. These findings provide new chemical evidence for the taxonomy and phylogenetic studies of Y. longistaminaea.