• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.197-202
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• 1993

In order to explore the brassinosteroid-active component in Perilla frutescense, methanol extract of immature seeds was purified by sequences of solvent fractionation, silica gel adsorption chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 chromatography, charcoal adsorption chromatography and Bondesil chromatography. The activity of brassinosteroid was monitored by the rice inclination test and its presence could be confirmed in each purification step. The purified active components were seperated by silica gel adsorption chromatography. The seperated main and minor active brassinosteroid fractions were identified as castasterone and homobrassinolide, respectively, by HPLC. We acknowledge that our work is probably the first report of endogenous brassinosteroid in Perilla frutescense. The content of brassinosteroid in Perilla frutescense as converted into brassinolide was $0.5{\sim}0.8\;ng/g$ fresh weight.