Analysis of Grading Evaluation Standard of Ophiopogonis Radix from Sichuan Province / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective::To investigate the correlation between the characteristics and internal quality of Ophiopogonis Radix from Sichuan province through various quality evaluation, and provide reference for the formulation of grading standard of this herb. Method::For 28 batches of Ophiopogonis Radix, the characters, microscopic characteristics, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), the content of moisture, ash content, acid insoluble ash content, residues of sulfur dioxide, heavy metals, hazardous elements and paclobutrazol, water-soluble extract, contents of total saponins and three major components [ophiopogonin D (OPD), methylophiopogonanone A (MPOA) and methylophiopogonanone B (MPOB)] were determined.The relationships between various indicators and the grade of Ophiopogonis Radix were analyzed. Result::Ophiopogonis Radix exhibited specific properties in characters, microscopic characteristics and TLC.The contents of impurity, moisture, total ash, acid-insoluble ash and water-soluble extract existed differences in four grades of Ophiopogonis Radix from Sichuan province.For grade Ⅰ, grain number was 80-120 grains per 50 g, the moisture content was 11.1%-14.9%, total ash content was 1.6%-2.1%, acid-insoluble ash content was 0.03%-0.14%, water-soluble extract content was 77.0%-86.5%.For grade Ⅱ, grain number was 120-160 grains per 50 g, the moisture content was 13.1%-14.2%, total ash content was 1.3%-2.2%, acid-insoluble ash content was 0.06%-0.22%, water-soluble extract content was 75.9%-83.3%.For grade Ⅲ, grain number was 160-300 grains per 50 g, the impurity was 0.2%-8.4%, the moisture content was 12.6%-14.0%, total ash content was 1.2%-1.5%, acid-insoluble ash content was 0.06%-0.22%, water-soluble extract content was 74.0%-86.5%.For grade Ⅳ, grain number was 80-300 grains per 50 g, impurity was 1.2%-22.6%, the moisture content was 13.0%-15.4%, the total ash content was 1.4%-2.0%, acid-insoluble ash content was 0.03%-0.15%, water-soluble extract content was 79.8%-85.2%. Conclusion::It is reasonable and feasible to classify the grade of Ophiopogonis Radix from Sichuan province according to the appearance characteristics such as the grain number per 50 g and internal indexes such as impurity and water-soluble extract, which can be used as a reference for grading standards of Ophiopogonis Radix from Sichuan province.

Research progress on chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of Ophiopogon japonicas / 中草药

Ophiopogon japonicus is widely distributed in China and rich in resources, and is a kind of medicinal plants with great utilization value. It could nourish yin, promote body fluid production, moisten the lung, ease the mind, and clear away heart fire. Modern research showed that there are several secondary metabolites, such as steroidal saponins, homoisoflavonoids and polysaccharides. Its pharmacological research mainly focused on the hypoglycemic effect, cardiovascular protection, enhanced immunity, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor effect. In this paper, the chemical compositions and pharmacological activities of O. japonicas were summarized, in order to provide reference for further study and application of O. japonicas.

Influence of ultrafiltration membrane on ophiopogonins and homoisoflavonoids in Ophiopogon japonicus as measured by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry / 中国天然药物

Ultrafiltration is one of the most fascinating technologies, which makes it possible to improve the quality of traditional medicines for application in the pharmaceutical industry. However, researchers have paid little attention to the effect of ultrafiltration membrane on traditional medicines chemical constituents. In this work, Ophiopogon japonicus (L.f) Ker-Gawl. was used as an example to illuminate the influence of ultrafiltration with different material and molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) membrane on natural chemical constituents as measured by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UFLC-IT-TOF/MS). Our results indicated that ultrafiltration membrane significantly impacted homoisoflavonoids, especially homoisoflavonoids that were almost completely retained on the polyethersulfone (PES) membrane. We also found that the larger number of aglycone hydroxy and sugar moiety in steroid saponins, the higher the transmittance. Furthermore, the passage rate (%) of ophiogenin type saponins was higher than that of others. The possible adsorptive mechanisms were hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and benzene ring interaction by π-π stacking. In conclusion, it is crucial to choose appropriate ultrafiltration membrane based on the characteristics of produce products for application of ultrafiltration technique.

Influence of different drying methods on steroidal saponins and homoisoflavonoids in Ophiopogon japonicus / 中国中药杂志

To study the influence of three different drying methods (including 50 ℃-drying, 80 ℃-drying and －70 ℃-freeze-drying methods) on steroidal saponins and homoisoflavonoids in Ophiopogon japonicus,a HPLC-DAD-ELSD-MSn method was investigated to screen and identify the differential components. Through comparing the HPLC chromatograms with that of fresh O. japonicus, 50 ℃-drying medicine was similar with fresh medicine whereas the other two drying methods had great influence on the components of O. japonicus. In this study, 36 differential components were screened, among which 24 constituents(13 homoisoflavonoids and 11 steroidal saponins) were identified via HPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS.As a result, it was revealed that different drying methods had significant influences on the components of steroidal saponins and homoisoflavonoids. Among them, 50 ℃-drying method was the most suitable drying approach when the stability of components, cost and practicability were considered.

Isolation and characterization of homoisoflavonoids from Scilla persica HAUSSKN

abstract Medicinal plants have many traditional claims including the treatment of ailments of infectious origin. In the evaluation of traditional claims, scientific research is extremely important. In this study, five homoisoflavonoids named 3-(4'-hydroxybenzylidene)-5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxychroman-4-one(Autumnalin),3-(4'-hydroxybenzyl)-5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxychroman-4-one (3,9-dihydro-autumnalin), 3-(3',4'-dihydroxybenzyl)-5,8-dihydroxy-7-methoxychroman-4-one,3-(3',4'-dihydroxybenzylidene)-5,8-dihydroxy-7-methoxychroman-4-one and 3-(3',4'-dihydroxybenzylidene)-5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxychroman-4-one, were isolated from the bulbs of the plant Scilla persica HAUSSKN. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses such as NMR, MS, IR and UV.

resumo Plantas medicinais apresentam muitas atribuições tradicionais, incluindo o tratamento de doenças de origem infecciosa. A pesquisa científica é extremamente importante na avaliação dos usos tradicionais. Neste estudo, cinco homoisoflavonóides: 3-(4'-hidroxibenzilideno)-5,7-diidroxi-6-metoxicroman-4-ona(autumnalina), 3-(4'-hidroxibenzil)-5,7-diidroxi-6- metoxicroman-4-ona (3,9-diidro-autumnalina), 3-(3',4'-diidroxibenzil)-5,8-diidroxi-7- metoxicroman-4-ona, 3-(3',4'-diidroxibenzilideno)-5,8-diidroxi-7- metoxicroman-4-ona e 3-(3',4'-diidroxibenzilideno)-5,7-diidroxi-6- metoxicroman-4-ona foram isolados dos bulbos da planta Scilla persica HAUSSKN. Suas estruturas foram estabelecidas com base na extensa análise espectroscópica, como RMN, EM, IV e UV.

Identification of homoisoflavonoids in Ophiopogon japonicus alcohol extract by an LC-MS based on precise mass and tandem mass spectrometer / 中草药

Objective: To develop an LC/MS approach based on precise mass and tandem mass spectrometer to identify homoisoflavonoids from Ophiopogon japonicus alcohol extract. Methods: Separation was performed on an Alltima C18 reverse-phase column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 μm) and an Alltech pre-column. The mobile phase consisted of water containing 1 mmol/L ammonium acetate-acetonitrile containing 0.01% acetic acid was used as gradient elution. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was 298 nm. A combination of time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF/MS) and ion trap tandem mass spectrometer (Trap/MSn) was applied for qualitative analysis under negative ion mode. Results: From the alcohol extract of O. japonicus, the molecular formulae of 11 components were screened by TOF/MS and 11 chemical components were identified by Trap/MSn. All of the peaks were attributed. Conclusion: This method can be used to identify medicinal ingredients quickly and provide an effective and reliable analytical model, as well as other complex system of traditional Chinese medicine compound.