C21 steroids from the roots of Marsdenia tenacissima.

A phytochemical investigation of the dichloromethane soluble fraction of the ethanolic extract obtained from the roots of Marsdenia tenacissima led to the discovery of the sixteen undescribed pregnane C21 steroids (1-16) and isolation of eleven known C21 steroidal analogues (17-27). Their chemical structures were elucidated by one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and, high resolution-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and their absolute configurations were determined using electronic circular dichroism or single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The in vitro anti-proliferative effects of 1-16 were evaluated against HepG2 (human hepatocellular cancer), A549 (lung cancer), and MCF-7 (human breast cancer) cell lines. Even though some of them showed moderate cytotoxic activities, marsectohexol derivative 12 exhibited significant cytotoxicity against A549 cells with an IC50 value of 5.2 µM.

[Effect of different initial processing methods on quality of gardenia].

To investigate the effect of different initial processing methods on the quality of Gardenia and determine the best cooking time in gardenia processing through the determination of index components content. The contents of geniposide, crocetin Ⅰ and total iridoid glycosides in Gardenia were determined before storage, six months after storage and one year after storage. During storage, the contents of geniposide, crocetin Ⅰ and total iridoid glycosides in directly dried Gardenia were 1.68%, 0.45% and 6.45% respectively. The contents of geniposide, crocetin Ⅰ and total iridoid glycosides in Gardenia with different steaming time were 1.34%-0.5%, 0.28%-0.06% and 6.09%-1.59% respectively. The contents of geniposide, crocetin Ⅰ and total iridoid glycosides in Gardenia with different boiling time (adding alum)were 1.42%-0.41%, 0.35%-0.07% and 6.40%-1.65% respectively. The direct drying of Gardenia samples could not achieve the function of killing enzyme and protecting glycosides. The enzymes from degradation of the index components were basically destroyed after steaming time of 13 min or boiling (adding alum) time of 8 min, achieving the function of killing enzyme and protecting glycosides.