Nutritional composition and phytochemical screening in different parts of Hibiscus syriacus L.

As the national flower of Korea, the Hibiscus syriacus L. (Rose of Sharon) is symbolic in its abundance and is a prominent feature of Korean culture. H. syriacus has played an important role in Korea, not only as an ornamental plant but also as an essential ingredient in folk remedies through its various parts. This study aimed to characterize the nutritional and biochemical composition of each plant unit of H. syriacus "Wonhwa." The units are namely: the petals, leaves, roots, and sprouts from its seeds. According to the results each unit produced, the sprouts had the highest content of amino acids and fatty acids which adhere to the requirements of nutritionally excellent food ingredients. The petals produced high quantities of glucose, sucrose, and fumaric acid, with the highest antioxidant activity among the four units. The main bioactive compounds detected in H. syriacus extracts in the four units were o-coumaric acid, p-coumaric acid, schaftoside, isoschaftoside, apigenin-6-C-glucoside-7-o-glucoside, and kaempferol-3-O-galactoside-7-O-rhamnoside. Overall, the highest number of bioactive compounds, 2 phenolic acids and 22 flavonoids, were identified in the petals. These results suggest the possibility of excellent pharmacological activity in the petals.

Codonopsis lanceolata extract prevents hypertension in rats.

BACKGROUND: Codonopsis lanceolata, a plant with antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and blood lipid improving effects, has been widely used as a therapeutic agent in traditional medicine. PURPOSE: The present study investigated the ability of an ethanol extract of Codonopsis lanceolata (ECL) to prevent hypertension in hypertensive rats. METHODS: Rats were orally administered daily doses of 0 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg ECL for 3 weeks. As a positive control, rats were orally administered 10 mg/kg/day nifedipine. Hypertension was induced by immobilization stress for 2 h/day and by administration of 0.8 mg/kg/day nicotine for 3 weeks, followed by injection of 3 mg/kg nicotine on the day of sacrifice. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured using a volume pressure recording system. Vasoconstriction and vasodilation of aortic cross sections were measured with a physiological recorder. Neutrophil counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were estimated with an automated cell counter. RESULTS: Treatment with both dosages of ECL significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) in hypertensive rats. Both doses of ECL tended to increase ACh- and SNP-induced vascular relaxation in hypertensive rats. Treatment with 200 mg/kg ECL significantly reduced neutrophil in hypertensive rats. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ECL is effective in reducing SBP and inflammation in hypertensive conditions.

Changes in aurantio-obtusin and glucoaurantio-obtusin content in Cassiae Semen via treatment with a crude enzyme extract from Aspergillus usamii.

Cassiae Semen (seeds of Cassia tora) showed a remarkably different HPLC chromatogram after being treated with a crude enzyme extract from Aspergillus usamii. Increased and decreased compounds were identified as aurantio-obtusin and glucoaurantio-obtusin, respectively. The aurantio-obtusin content reached its maximum level (133.58 +/- 0.39 microg/mg extract) after being incubated for 50 min at 37 degrees C, whereas the inactivated crude enzyme-treated control remained unchanged (54.13 +/- 1.33 microg/mg). On the other hand, the glucoaurantio-obtusin content decreased by less than one-third (51.09 +/- 1.63 microg/ mg) of the untreated control (143.19 +/- 2.12 microg/mg), suggesting that an increase in aurantio-obtusin content originated from the enzymatic cleavage of its glucoside glucoaurantio-obtusin.

Beta-secretase (BACE1) inhibitors from Sanguisorbae Radix.

In the course of screening anti-dementia agents from natural products, two beta-secretase (BACE1) inhibitors were isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of Sanguisorbae Radix by the activity-guided purification using silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and RP-HPLC. They were identified as 1,2,3-trigalloyl-4,6-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (Tellimagrandin II, 1) and 1,2,3,4,6-pentagalloyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2) and were shown to non-competitively inhibit beta-secretase (BACE1) with the IC50 values of 3.10x10(-6) M and 3.76x10(-6) M, respectively. The Ki values of 1 and 2 were 6.84x10(-6) M and 5.13x10(-6) M. They were less inhibitory to alphasecretase (TACE) and other serine proteases such as chymotrypsin, trypsin, and elastase, suggesting that they were relatively specific inhibitors of BACE1.