• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.124-130
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• 2018

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is amending its test methods for the use of health functional foods (dietary food supplement), in order to establish regulatory standards and specifications in Korea. In this regard, we continue to pursue and perform our research on the analytical method development for the items being researched and reviewed. In this study, we have developed a sensitive and selective test method that could simultaneously separate and determinate six major bioactive flavonolignans in silymarin, which are based on the use of a liquid chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The standard calibration curves presented a linearity effect with the correlation coefficient ($r^2$) > 0.999. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of $0.3{\sim}9.0{\mu}g/L$ and $0.8{\sim}27.3{\mu}g/L$, respectively. The recovery results ranged between 96.2~98.6% at 3 different concentration levels, and its relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 5% as noted in this study. The proposed analytical method was characterized with a noted high resolution of the individual silymarin constituents, and the assay was fully validated as well. Our research can provide a significant scientific evidence that can be useful to amend the silymarin test method for the Health Functional Food Code.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.600-605
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• 2019

Background: The leaves and roots of Panax ginseng are rich in ginsenosides. However, the chemical compositions of the leaves and roots of P. ginseng differ, resulting in different medicinal functions. In recent years, the aerial parts of members of the Panax genus have received great attention from natural product chemists as producers of bioactive ginsenosides. The aim of this study was the isolation and structural elucidation of novel, minor ginsenosides in the leaves of P. ginseng and evaluation of their antiinflammatory activity in vitro. Methods: Various chromatographic techniques were applied to obtain pure individual compounds, and their structures were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance and high-resolution mass spectrometry, as well as chemical methods. The antiinflammatory effect of the new compounds was evaluated on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Results and conclusions: Two novel, minor triterpenoid saponins, ginsenoside $LS_1$ (1) and 5,6-didehydroginsenoside $Rg_3$ (2), were isolated from the leaves of P. ginseng. The isolated compounds 1 and 2 were assayed for their inhibitory effect on nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, and Compound 2 showed a significant inhibitory effect with $IC_{50}$ of $37.38{\mu}M$ compared with that of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine ($IC_{50}=90.76{\mu}M$). Moreover, Compound 2 significantly decreased secretion of cytokines such as prostaglandin $E_2$ and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$. In addition, Compound 2 significantly suppressed protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. These results suggested that Compound 2 could be used as a valuable candidate for medicinal use or functional food, and the mechanism is warranted for further exploration.