An Evaluation of the Edible Value of Salvia miltiorrhiza Seeds: Proximate Composition, Phytochemical Components and Antioxidant Activity.

Salvia miltiorrhiza seeds (SMS) are the main by-product of the production processing of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae. The main purposes of this work are to analyse the nutritional components in SMS, to explore the antioxidant activity of the chemical components in SMS and to evaluate the possibility of SMS as a raw material for functional foods. The contents of crude fibre, total protein, carbohydrates, total phenolics and flavonoids in SMS and the composition and relative content of fatty acids in SMS oil were determined. The results suggested that SMS has high contents of crude fibre (28.68 ± 4.66 g/100 g), total protein (26.65 ± 2.51 g/100 g), total phenolics (6.45 ± 0.55 mg of gallic acid equivalent/g) and total flavonoids (3.28 ± 0.34 mg of rutin equivalent/g), as well as a high level of α-linolenic acid (33.774 ± 4.68%) in their oil. Twenty-two secondary metabolites were identified in SMS residue, and nine compounds were isolated. The IC50 values of the total phenolic content in SMS on an ABTS radical, DPPH radical, superoxide radical and hydroxyl radical were 30.94 ± 3.68 µg/mL, 34.93 ± 4.12 µg/mL, 150.87 ± 17.64 µg/mL and 230.19 ± 24.47 µg/mL, respectively. The results indicate that SMS contain many nutrients and have high utilization value as a promising functional food.

Comparative Study of the Flavonoid Content in Radix Scutellaria from Different Cultivation Areas in China.

Scutellariabaicalensis Georgi, an important perennial herb, is widely distributed and used all over the world. The root of S. baicalensis (Radix Scutellaria) is rich in flavonoids with a variety of bioactive effects and is widely used in clinic. The different geographical and climatic conditions of different cultivated areas of S. baicalensis lead to the differences of the main components in Radix Scutellaria. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the difference of flavonoid content in Radix Scutellaria from different cultivated areas in China. The mobile phase system, elution gradient, detection wavelength, and other chromatographic conditions for high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) determination of 8 flavonoids in Radix Scutellaria were optimized. The contents of flavonoids in 38 samples of Radix Scutellaria collected from seven main genuine cultivated areas were determined, and the correlation between the content, cultivated area, and the biological activities of Radix Scutellaria was compared. The results implied that baicalin, wogonoside, and baicalein were the three main flavonoids with the highest contents in Radix Scutellaria. The content of flavonoids in different cultivated areas was very different, which had significant regionality and was closely related to the natural conditions of various places. The antioxidant and antitumor activities of the extract of Radix Scutellaria were closely related to the content of flavonoids, and high contents of baicalin, wogonoside, and baicalein positively improved biological activities.

Ultrasonic-assisted extraction, fatty acids identification of the seeds oil and isolation of chemical constituent from oil residue of Belamcanda chinensis.

Belamcanda chinensis is a common garden herb. The extraction technology of B. chinensis seed oil (BSO) was optimized by ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) method, the composition, relative content of main fatty acids and physicochemical properties of BSO were determined, and the isolation, identification and determination of chemical constituent in BSO residue (BSOR) were also investigated. The optimum process conditions of BSO by UAE were optimized as ultrasound time 14 min, extraction temperature 42℃, the ultrasound power 413 W and the liquid-solid ratio 27:1 mL/g. Under this condition, the extraction yield was 22.32 % with the high contents of linoleic acid and oleic acid in BSO. Ten compounds were isolated and identified from BSOR, and belamcandaoid P (9) was a new compound. The contents of the determined compounds were all at high level in B. chinensis seed. The study provided a certain scientific reference for the comprehensive development and utilization of B. chinensis seeds.

Ultrasonic-assisted extraction and adsorption separation: Large-scale preparation of trans-ε-Viniferin, suffruficosol B and trans-Gnetin H for the first time.

In this study, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the large-scale extraction, enrichment, and separation of suffruticosol B (SB), trans-ε-Viniferin (TV), trans-gnetin H (TG) from oil tree peony seeds shell (PSS) was successfully constructed. The ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), macroporous adsorption resin (MAR), and column chromatography (CC) were employed to extract, enrich and separate SB, TV and TG from PSS, and the conditions were optimized. The results implied that SB (1.6937 g), TV (0.5884 g) and TG (3.8786 g) with the purity of 99.67 %, 99.32 % and 98.54 %, respectively, were obtained after the extraction, enrichment and separation. The total yields of the SB, TV and TG were 0.61 mg/g, 0.02 mg/g and 6.64 mg/g with the total extraction rates at 70.55 %, 69.77 % and 78.36 %, respectively. This is the first report on the large-scale extraction, enrichment and separation of oligostilbenes. The SOP in this paper could produce high purity SB, TV and TG, and provide a new idea for PSS as a new oligostilbene resource. The study expands the new development and research field of PSS and provides theoretical support for the green utilization of oil tree peony.

Resveratrol trimers from seed cake of Paeonia rockii.

In the course of screening natural products for antibacterial activities, a total acetone extract of the seed cake of Paeonia rockii showed significant effects against bacterial strains. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the EtOAc-soluble fraction of the total acetone extract resulted in the isolation and identification of five resveratrol trimers, including rockiiol C (1), gnetin H (2), suffruticosol A (3), suffruticosol B (4) and suffruticosol C (5). The relative configuration of these compounds was elucidated mainly by comprehensive 1D and 2D-NMR experiments. Compound 1 was a new compound. All isolated compounds exhibited strong antibacterial activities against Gram-positive bacteria.