MOLECULE

dihydroactinidiolide

Dihydroactinidiolide belongs to the class of organic compounds known as benzofurans. These are organic compounds containing a benzene ring fused to a furan. Furan is a five-membered aromatic ring with four carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. Biochemically is a bicyclic monoterpenoid. These are monoterpenoids containing exactly 2 rings, which are fused to each other. Monoterpenoids are terpenes that contain 10 carbon atoms and are comprised of two isoprene units. The biosynthesis of monoterpenes is known to occur mainly through the methyl-erythritol-phosphate (MEP) pathway in plant cell plastids (PMID: 7640522). Geranyl diphosphate (GPP) is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of cyclic monoterpenes. GPP undergoes several cyclization reactions to yield a diverse number of cyclic arrangements. Dihydroactinidiolide is a neutral, hydrophobic compound that is not soluble in water. It exists as a yellow to brown solid or oil. It used as a food flavoring agent and has fruity, ripe apricot and woody aroma. Dihydroactinidiolide is a naturally occurring volatile terpene found in black tea, coffee, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, fenugreek, mangos, silver vine (Actinidia polygama), and tobacco. Dihydroactinidiolide is one of many terpenoids that are found in cannabis plants (PMID: 6991645). Dihydroactinidiolide also acts as a pheromone for a variety of insects, including the fire ant. In particular, it is one of the three components of the pheromone for queen recognition of red fire ant workers (J. Bricout et al., Helv. Chim. Acta 50, 1517 (1967)). It can be produced by photo-oxidation of carotenoid flavor compounds.