• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.35-43
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• 2002

Glycosides of herbal medicines, such as glycyrrhizin, ginsenosides, kalopanaxsaponins, rutin and ponicirin, were studied regarding their metabolic fates and pharmacological actions in relation to intestinal bacteria using germ-free, gnotobiotic and conventional animals. When glycyrrhizin (GL) was orally administered, $18{\beta}-glycyrrhetinic\;acid\;(GA)$, not GL, was detected in plasma and intestinal contents of gnotobiotic and conventional rats. However, GA could not be detected in germ-free rats. When GL was incubated with human intestinal bacteria, it was directly metabolized to GA (>95%) or via $18{\beta}-glycyrrhetinic\;acid-3-{\beta}-D-glucuronide$(>5%). Orally administered GL was effective in gnotobiotic and conventional rats for liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride, but was not effective in germ-free rats. When ginseng saponins were orally administered to human beings, compound K in the plasma was detected, but the other protopanxadiol saponins were not detected. The compound K was active for tumor metastasis and allergy. When kalopanaxsaponins were incubated with human intestinal microflora, they were metabolized to kalopanaxsaponin A, kalopanaxsaponin I and hederagenin. These metabolites were active for rheumatoid arthritis and diabetic mellitus while the other kalopanxsaponins were not. When flavonoid glycosides were orally administered to animals, aglycones and/or phenolic acids were detected in the urine. The metabolic pathways proceeded by intestinal bacteria rather than by liver or blood enzymes. These metabolites, aglycones and phenolic acids, showed antitumor, antiinflammatory and antiplatelet aggregation activities. These findings suggest that glycosides of herbal medicines are prodrugs.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.226-233
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• 2007

To develop a clinically available saponin- or sapogenin complex from Oriental medicines, the EtOH extract (KPRG-A) was obtained by extracting from the four crude drugs, Kalopanacis Cortex, Platycodi Radix, Rubi Fructus and Glycyrrhizae Radis. The BuOH fraction (KPRG-B), a crude saponin complex, was prepared by fractionating KPRG-A, which were further completely hydrolyzed to afford the sapogenin complex (KPRG-D). In an attempt to find the antinoicpetive effects of the saponin complex and sapogenin complex, KPRG-C, and -D, were assayed by writhing-, hot plate-, and tail-flick tests using mice or rats. The three samples were also subjected to antiiflammatory tests using serotonin-induced and carrageenan-induced hind paw edema mice and rats, respectively. The three samples significantly reduced inflammations and pains of the experimental animal. The potency were found in the order of KPRG-D> KPRG-C> KPRG-B. The most active sample, KPRG-D, caused no death, no body increase or no anatomical pathlogic change even at 2,000 mg/kg dose. These results suggest that a sapogenin complex, KPRG-D, which was found to contain mainly hederagenin, platycodigenin, polygalacic acid, 23-hydroxytormentic acid, glycyrrhetic acid together with minor triterpene acids, could be a potential candidate for antiinflammatory therapeutics.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.41 no.spc1
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• pp.145-165
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• 1996

Amaranth(Amaranthus spp. L.) and quinoa (Chenpodium quinoa Willd.) are old crops from South, Central America and Central Asia and their grains have been identified as very promising food crops because of their exceptional nutritive value. Squalene is an important ingredient in skin cosmetics and computer disc lubricants as well as bioactive materials such as inhibition of fungal and mammalian sterol biosynthesis, antitumor, anticancer, and immunomodulation. Amaranth has a component called squalene (2,6,10,15,19,23-hexamethyl-2,6,10,14,22-tetraco-sahexaene) about 1/300 of the seed and $5\~8\%$ of its seed oil. Oil and squalene content in amaranth seed were different for the species investigated. Squalene content in seed oil also increased by $15.5\%$ due to puffing and from 6.96 to $8.01\%$ by refining and bleaching. Saponin concentrations in quinoa seed ranged 0.01 to $5.6\%$. Saponins are located in the outer layers of quinoa grain. These layers include the perianth, pericarp, a seed coat layer, and a cuticle like structure. Oleanane-type triterpenes saponins are of great interest because of their diverse pharmacological properties, for instance, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, contraceptive, and cholesterol-lowering effects. It is known that quinoa contains a number of structurally diverse saponins including the aglycones, oleanolic acid, hederagenin, and phytolaccagenic acid, which are new potential in gredient for pharmacological properties. It is likely that these saponin levels will be considerably affected by genetic, agronomic and environmental factors as well as by processing. With the current enhanced public interest in health and nutrition amaranth and quinoa will most likely remain in the immediate future within the realm of exotic health foods until such time as agricultural production meets the quantities and qualify required by industrial food manufacturers.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.184-189
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• 2006

To find the monthly variation of kalopanaxsaponin contents in the leaves of Kalopanax pictus with thorns (KPT) and with no thorns (KPN), the leaves monthly collected from May to September were extracted with MeOH and then the kalopanaksaponin fractions were prepared. KPT collected on May showed the lowest saponin content of the KPTs whereas KPT on August exhibited the highest saponin content. From September, the saponin content in the loaves decreased. The highest saponin content was shown to be 7.3% in KPN collected on August. Evaluation of six kalopanaxsaponins A, I, J, B, H and K (KPA, KPI, KPJ, KPB, KPH, and KPK) were performed using TLC densitometer. In this measurement, considerably higher KPB and KPH, both hederagenin bisdesmosides, were found whereas very low contents In monodesrnosides KPI and KPJ were observed. In conclusion, it was shown that the leaves of KPN of August could be a biomaterial source for the kalopanaxsaponin fraction. It was also suggested that measurement of the weight of kalopanaxsaponin fraction and the content of KPB as the representative compound for kalopanaxsaponins will be used for the quantitative evaluation of the kalopanaxsaponins of K. pictus.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.144-150
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• 2020

Phytochemical investigation of leaves, barks and roots of Nauclea vanderguchtii led to the isolation of sixteen compounds, which includes one citric acid derivative (2), one alkaloid (16), one peptide derivative (3), and twelve triterpenes (1, 4 - 13). These compounds were identified as rotundanonic acid (1), 2-hydroxy-1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid 2-methyl ester (2), asperphenamate (3), lupeol (4), stigmasterol (5), betulin (6), betulenic acid (7), stigmasterol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (8), quinovic acid 3β-O-α-L-rhamnoside (9), α-amyrin (10), 3-oxoquinovic acid (11), ursolic acid (12), hederagenin (13), rotundic acid (14), clethric acid (15), and naucleficine (16) by the analysis of their NMR spectroscopic data including 2D NMR spectra and by comparison of their spectroscopic data reported in the literature. Compounds 1 and 3 were isolated for the first time in the genus Nauclea, and compound 2 was isolated for the first time from the Rubiaceae family. Complete NMR assignations for 1 have been published for the first time.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.795-801
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• 2017

Aralia elata Seemann (AE) has long been used as a folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases including diabetes mellitus, anti-arthritic, and anti-gastric ulcer agent in Korea, Japan, and China. This study was performed to establish a simple and reliable HPLC/UV analytical method for determination of most active anti-hypertensive compound, a 3-O-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranosyl($1{\rightarrow}$2)-${\alpha}$-L-arabinopyranosyl hederagenin 28-O-${\beta}$-D-xylopyranosyl($1{\rightarrow}6$)-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranosylester (HE) for the standardization of the shoot extract of AE as a health functional food ingredient. The quantitative analytical method of HE was optimized by HPLC analysis using reverse-phase C18 column at $40^{\circ}C$ with $H_2O$ and acetonitrile (70:30, v/v) as an isocratic mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and detection wavelength of UV 205 nm. This HPLC/UV analytical method showed good specificity and high linearity in the tested range of 0.03125-2.0mg/ml with excellent coefficient of determination ($R^2$) of 0.9999. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were $12.0{\mu}g/mL$ and $36.5{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Relative standard deviation (RSD) values of data from intra- and inter-day precision were less than 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. These results indicate that the established HPLC/UV analytical method is very simple, specific, precise, accurate, and reproducible and thus can be useful for the quantitative analysis of HE as a functional anti-hypertensive compound in AE extract.