Four new quercetin-derived oxidation products (
1-
4) and lunularin-4-
O--D-glucoside (
5) were isolatedfrom a water extract of onion (
Allium cepa) skin, together with 17 other known compounds. Antibacterialassays for the isolated compounds showed that 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-4,6-dihydroxy-2-methoxybenzofuran-3-one (
1) presented selective activity against
Helicobacter pylori strains and 3-(quercetin-8-yl)-2,3-epoxyflavanone (
4) showed antibacterial activity against MRSA and
H. pylori strains at thesame time that it increased susceptibility of MRSA to
-lactams. Evaluation of antioxidant activityagainst DPPH for the isolated compounds showed that the new derivative compounds (
1-
4) and2,5,7,3',4'-pentahydroxy-3,4-flavandione (
6) are more active than quercetin.Keywords: Onion;
Allium cepa; Alliaceae; quercetin; 2,3-epoxyflavanone; benzofuran-3-one; antioxidantactivity; antibacterial activity