Abstract
Cytotoxicity-guided fractionation of the bark and stem extract of Polylepis racemosa led to the identification of ursolic acid, pomolic acid, 3-O-acetylpomolic acid, and 2-oxopomolic acid. Pomolic acid was the most cytotoxic component, and was specific for M-14 melanoma and ME180 cervical carcinoma, with GI(50) values of 6.9 and 8.3 mu g/mL respectively.