Asparagus officinalis L. is an important economic crop cultivated in temperate regions for consumption as a green vegetable with many proven health benefits. In a previous study, methanolic extract of A. officinalis was found to exhibit potent cytotoxic activity against three human cancer cell lines, namely, MCF7 (breast cancer), HEPG2 (hepatocellular carcinoma) and HELA (cervical cancer). Fractionation of the methanolic extract identified the chloroform fraction as the most active against all three cell lines. Phytochemical investigation of the active chloroform fraction resulted in the isolation of nine compounds. 1D and 2D NMR spectral data were used to identify these compounds as four nor-lignans (1, 3, 4 and 6), two acetylenes (2 and 5), two spirostanesaponins (7 and 8) in addition to -sitosterol glucoside. Compounds 1,2,4 5, 7, 8 and 9 were isolated from A. officinalis for the first time. All isolated compounds were tested for cytotoxic activity against the aforementioned cell lines and compound 7 was the most active with IC50 between 8.8-25 µmole/ml. When tested against a panel of 10 microorganisms, compounds 1-6 exhibited good antimicrobial with stronger activity observed against Gram positive bacteria while compounds 7 and 8 were inactive against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria.

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