Rapid Authentication of the Herbal Medicine Plant Species Aralia continentalis Kitag. and Angelica biserrata C.Q. Yuan and R.H. Shan Using ITS2 Sequences and Multiplex-SCAR Markers.

Accurate identification of the plant species that are present in herbal medicines is important for quality control. Although the dried roots of Aralia continentalis (Araliae Continentalis Radix) and Angelica biserrata (Angelicae Pubescentis Radix) are used in the same traditional medicine, namely Dok-Hwal in Korean and Du-Huo in Chinese, the medicines are described differently in the national pharmacopeia. Further confusion arises from the distribution of dried Levisticum officinale and Heracleum moellendorffii roots as the same medicine. Medicinal ingredients from all four plants are morphologically similar, and discrimination is difficult using conventional methods. Molecular identification methods offer rapidity and accuracy. The internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) was sequenced in all four plant species, and the sequences were used to design species-specific primers. Primers for each species were then combined to allow sample analysis in a single PCR reaction. Commercial herbal medicine samples were obtained from Korea and China and analyzed using the multiplex assay. The assay successfully identified authentic medicines and also identified inauthentic or adulterated samples. The multiplex assay will be a useful tool for identification of authentic Araliae Continentalis Radix and/or Angelicae Pubescentis Radix preparations in Korea and China.

The medicinal chemistry of genus Aralia.

The genus Aralia contains many plants used medicinally in Asia and the Americas. Although many members of this genus are used medicinally, the vast majority of this genus has not been explored chemically. The species of Aralia that have been explored chemically have yielded compounds of several classes, including triterpenoid saponins, sterols, diterpenoids, and acetylenic lipids. Many of the biologically active components found in genus Aralia have been evaluated for their potential as lead compounds for drug discovery. This review will explore the medicinal chemistry of compounds reported from genus Aralia, and future prospects for this genus will be considered.

The pollen metamorphosis phenomenon in Panax ginseng, Aralia elata and Oplopanax elatus; an addition to discussion concerning the Panax affinity in Araliaceae.

To find more morphological characteristics useful for discussion on aralian or non-aralian Panax affinity, pollen morphological diversity was comparatively analysed in P. ginseng, Aralia elata and Oplopanax elatus collected during their pollination periods. In the anthers of both the buds and open flowers, the pollen average diameter varied between some species-specific maximum and minimal measurement. However, the larger pollen grains were typically found in the buds whereas the smaller pollen prevailed in the open flowers, testifying to the pollen size diminution during anther maturation. Based on this finding, the subsequent examination of pollen according to size decrease was put into operation as a method of pollen modification for the study. The structural mechanisms of pollen metamorphosis were identified as not being species specific but rather universal. These mechanisms are suggested to be the shrinkage of the pollen vegetative cytoplasm, the intine enlargement, the deepening of three colporate apertures provided by exine sunken into enlarged intine areas, the aperture accretion as well as the transformation of the exine from thick/sculptured into thin/less sculptured. During 'size-reducing metamorphosis', the pollen grains changed dramatically, going through a species-specific set of intermediate morphs to the final species-specific morphotype. In P. ginseng this morphotype is round (diameter is about 16 microm), in A. elata it is round with a single projection (diameter is about 15 microm) and in O. elatus it is ovoid with a single projection (average diameter is about 18 microm). In addition, every species is peculiar in having the unique vegetative cytoplasm inclusions and individual construction of the largest pollen exine. From a phylogenetic perspective, these findings presumably add support to the option of equal remoteness of P. ginseng from A. elata and O. elatus. The characteristics found seem to be suitable for examination of Panax affinity, by the subsequent study of more Araliaceae representatives.

[Morphological and histological studies on Aralia plants].

OBJECTIVE: To make clear the descriptions and microscopic histological structures of the roots, stems and rootstocks for twelve species from Aralia plants. METHODS: Observing the descriptions and histological characteristics. RESULT: The histological characteristics of the various species are basically identical. Each of them equally contains cluster crystals of calcium oxalate and starch grains; secretory canals exist extensively in the cortexes, phloem and piths; neither cortexes nor phloem of roots have thick-walled cells, but cortexes and phloem of the stems of the wood plants have fibers or stone cells. CONCLUSION: The pharmacognostic and interspecies characteristics for wood and herbaceous plants identification were obtained. The wood and herbaceous plants in one natural group of a genus as its two subgenera was sustained by the study result.

[Identification of medicinal and edible tender shoots of Aralia in China].

OBJECTIVE: To Study the identification of medicinal and edible tender shoots of Aralia in China. METHODS: Morphological identification and differential thermal analysis(DTA). RESULTS: Important morphological and DTA features for identification were found. CONCLUSION: It is difficult to identify these tender shoots merely on morphological characteristics, but the combination of morphological features with distinctive aspects of DTA curve helps distinguish these species and give an identification index.

[Determination of diterpenoic acid, triterpenoids and tritersaponins in Aralia by RP-HPLC].

In this paper, an accurate RP-HPLC method for the determination of oleanolic acid 28-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (I), oleanolic acid 3-O-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (II), 3 beta-hydroxy-oleana-11, 13(18)-dien-28-oic acid (III), (ent)-pimara-8(14), 15-dien-19-oic acid (IV), oleanolic acid (V) and 3-ox-oleana-12-en-28-oic acid (VI) in 11 species of Aralia Linn. was described. The analytical column used was Supelco SIL-LC-18. The mobile phase was MeOH-1%HOAc-THF (500:110:1, pH 3.4). The flow rate was 1.2 ml.min-1. The detection wavelength was 205 nm. The linear ranges of I-VI were 0.135-2.160, 0.163-2.610, 0.123-1.962, 0.068-1.080, 0.135-2.160 and 0.248-2.646 micrograms, respectively. The recoveries of I-VI were from 86.88% to 93.31%. Detailed comparison of the diterpenoic acid, triterpenoids and tritersaponins for the group of herbal with those of woody the content of diterpenoic acid in herbal is higher than that of in woody. It showed that the diterponic acid is the specific constituent in the group of herbal, which is the difference to woody. This conclusion provides the evidence of the chemical classification for dividing the groups of herbal and woody into two distinct subgenus.