To broadly summarize acetogenin characterization based on spectroscopic and chromatographic hallmarks, the water-insoluble acetogenins obtained from Mexico Hass avocado pulp and seed were separated and then purified by HPLC. The components were identified in the water-insoluble fraction of methanolic extracts exploiting the diagnostic NMR pattern of their functional groups. Following HPLC separation, the individual compounds were characterized by MS and NMR assignments. The toxicity of the crude extract and two isolated components was evaluated using Caenorhabditis elegans. For the L1 larvae of this nematode, exposure to crude extracts containing 2.5 μM avocadene, 4.3 μM persenone A, and species with terminal methyl or acetate was lethal, whereas median lethal doses of 10.0 ± 0.1 and 9.1 ± 0.4 μM were measured for persenone A and persin, respectively. Though further efforts are necessary for the chromatographically unresolved species, the collected analytical signatures can enable assessing gross compositions of extracts from different avocado varieties.
