Chemical constituents from Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb. and their chemotaxonomic significance.

Phytochemical investigation of the ethanol extract from the whole plant of Agrimonia pilosa led to the isolation of 31 compounds, including 16 flavonoids (1-16), 5 triterpenes (17-21), 1 isocoumarin (22), 5 phenolic acids (23-27), 1 ceramide (28), 2 agrimols (29-30) and 1 fatty acid (31). Their structures were determined by various spectroscopic analyses. Compounds 5, 7 and 20 were firstly isolated from the genus Agrimonia, and compounds 6, 10-11, 15, 26, 28 and 31 were isolated from the family Rosaceae for the first time. Moreover, the chemotaxonomic significance of these compounds was summarised.

Anticholinesterase, antioxidant activity and phytochemical investigation into aqueous extracts from five species of Agrimonia genus.

Aqueous extracts of aerial flowering parts of five Agrimonia species (Rosaceae): Agrimonia coreana Nakai, Agrimonia japonica (Miq.) Koidz, Agrimonia procera Wallr., Agrimonia eupatoria L. and Agrimonia leucantha Kunze were investigated on their antioxidant activity, measured using five different methods; the best was the extract from A. procera with IC50 values from 6 to 29 µg/mL. All the extracts displayed inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) at the tested concentration of 100 µg/mL. We found the highest inhibition of cholinesterase in the extract of A. japonica with inhibition 70.4% for AChE and 79.8% for BuChE. These findings are statistically significant in comparison with those of other extracts (p < 0.001). The phytochemical analyses showed that the antioxidant activity of Agrimonia extracts can be affected especially by hexahydroxydiphenoyl (HHDP)-glucose and quercetin glycosides, and inhibition of cholinesterases by apigenin, luteolin and quercetin glycosides.

[Textural research on "Shidachuan" and "Shijianchuan" in "Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi" (a supplement to the compendium of materia medica)].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the historical origins of folk herbal medicines "Shidachuan" and "Shijianchuan" METHOD: The origins of "Shidachuan" and "Shijianchuan" were confirmed by textural research and investigation of therapeutic effects. RESULTS: In "Ben Cao Gang Mu" (the Compendium of Materia Medica) "Shidachuan" was not recorded, and "Shijianchuan" was listed only as a medicine of "nomination without use", with the habitat and morphology being blank. CONCLUSION: The "Shidachuan" which was originally recorded in "Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi" (A Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica) should be "Longyacao" (Agrimonia pilosa) of Rosaceae family. "Shijianchuan" should be "Guizhencao" (Bidens bipinata) of Compositae family instead of "Huashuweicao" (Salvia chinensis) of Labiatae family. The herbal medicine recorded as "shijianchuan" in "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" is the very species of Salvia chinensis, which is considered as a new rising species of "Shijianchuan".