Quantification of eight active ingredients in crude and processed radix polygoni multiflori applying miniaturized matrix solid-phase dispersion microextraction followed by UHPLC

Separation and Detection of Catechins and Epicatechins in Shanxi Aged Vinegar Using Solid-Phase Extraction and Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvents Combined with HPLC

This research presents a new, eco-friendly, and swift method combining solid-phase extraction and hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents (DES) with high-performance liquid chromatography (SPE-DES-HPLC) for extracting and quantifying catechin and epicatechin in Shanxi aged vinegar (SAV). The parameters, such as the elution solvent type, the XAD-2 macroporous resin dosage, the DES ratio, the DES volume, the adsorption time, and the desorption time, were optimized via a one-way experiment. A central composite design using the Box-Behnken methodology was employed to investigate the effects of various factors, including 17 experimental runs and the construction of three-dimensional response surface plots to identify the optimal conditions. The results show that the optimal conditions were an HDES (tetraethylammonium chloride and octanoic acid) ratio of 1:3, an XAD-2 macroporous resin dosage of 188 mg, and an adsorption time of 11 min. Under these optimal conditions, the coefficients of determination of the method were greater than or equal to 0.9917, the precision was less than 5%, and the recoveries ranged from 98.8% to 118.8%. The environmentally friendly nature of the analytical process and sample preparation was assessed via the Analytical Eco-Scale and AGREE, demonstrating that this method is a practical and eco-friendly alternative to conventional determination techniques. In summary, this innovative approach offers a solid foundation for the assessment of flavanol compounds present in SAV samples.

Prepared Radix Polygoni Multiflori and emodin alleviate lipid droplet accumulation in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease through MAPK signaling pathway inhibition

As one of the most common liver diseases, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects almost one-quarter of the world's population. Although the prevalence of NAFLD is continuously rising, effective medical treatments are still inadequate. Radix Polygoni Multiflori (RPM) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine. As a processed product of RPM, prepared Radix Polygoni Multiflori (PRPM) has been reported to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. This study investigated whether PRPM treatment could significantly improve NAFLD. We used recent literature, the Herb database and the SwissADME database to isolate the active compounds of PRPM. The OMIM, DisGeNET and GeneCards databases were used to isolate NAFLD-related target genes, and GO functional enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were conducted. Moreover, PRPM treatment in NAFLD model mice was evaluated. The results indicate that the target genes are mainly enriched in the AMPK and de novo lipogenesis signaling pathways and that PRPM treatment improves NAFLD disease in model mice. Here, we found the potential benefits of PRPM against NAFLD and demonstrated in vivo and in vitro that PRPM and its ingredient emodin downregulate phosphorylated P38/P38, phosphorylated ERK1/2 and genes related to de novo adipogenesis signaling pathways and reduce lipid droplet accumulation. In conclusion, our findings revealed a novel therapeutic role for PRPM in the treatment of NAFLD and metabolic inflammation.

Current analytical strategies for the determination of resveratrol in foods

Resveratrol, a non-flavonoid polyphenolic compound, possesses various beneficial properties such as anti-cancer, anti-aging, anti-bacterial, and antioxidant effects. It is naturally produced by many plants in response to stimulation. However, the content of resveratrol in natural plants can vary significantly, ranging from micrograms to milligrams per kilogram. As the demand for resveratrol increases, the development of methods for extracting and quantifying resveratrol in food has become a rapidly growing field in recent years. This review aims to comprehensively summarize the progress made in resveratrol analysis in food over the past decade (2012-2022), with a specific focus on the latest advancements in extraction and detection technologies. The objective is to offer a valuable reference for further research and utilization of resveratrol in various food applications.

Chitosan-based matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction assisted cell membrane magnetic bead ligand-affinity assay for screening active compounds from Fructus Cnidii

Cell membrane ligand-affinity assay is a useful tool for screening the active compounds from natural products. However, in traditional cell membrane ligand-affinity assays, natural products need to be refluxed, before being analyzed. This process consumes considerable time and energy and cannot be used for screening natural products that contain thermally unstable compounds. Therefore, an efficient analytical method is required. In this study, chitosan-based matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction was combined with cell membrane magnetic bead ligand-affinity assay to form a novel method for identifying the active compounds in Fructus Cnidii such as osthole and imperatorin. When compared with traditional cell membrane ligand-affinity assays, this assay requires less energy, extraction time (7 min), solvent volume (1.2 mL) and fewer natural products (40 mg). This indicates that the chitosan-based matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction assisted cell membrane magnetic beads ligand-affinity assay is an alternative analytical method for studying natural products. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The Potential of Microextraction Techniques for the Analysis of Bioactive Compounds in Food

For a long time, the importance of sample preparation and extraction in the analytical performance of the most diverse methodologies have been neglected. Cumbersome techniques, involving high sample and solvent volumes have been gradually miniaturized from solid-phase and liquid-liquid extractions formats and microextractions approaches are becoming the standard in different fields of research. In this context, this review is devoted to the analysis of bioactive compounds in foods using different microextraction approaches reported in the literature since 2015. But microextraction also represents an opportunity to mitigate the environmental impact of organic solvents usage, as well as lab equipment. For this reason, in the recent literature, phenolics and alkaloids extraction from fruits, medicinal herbs, juices, and coffee using different miniaturized formats of solid-phase extraction and liquid-liquid microextraction are the most popular applications. However, more ambitious analytical limits are continuously being reported and emergent sorbents based on carbon nanotubes and magnetic nanoparticles will certainly contribute to this trend. Additionally, ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents constitute already the most recent forefront of innovation, substituting organic solvents and further improving the current microextraction approaches.

Simultaneous determination of flavonoids and anthraquinones in honey by using SPE-CE-LIF

Based on advantages of capillary electrophoresis (CE), a new solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with CE has been developed for preconcentration, enrichment and determination of anthraquinones and flavonoids (rutin, emodin, quercetin, 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone) in honey. The environmental-friendly chitin activated after an easy processing is selected as the adsorbent to enrich analytes. Then, chitin was filled into the filter as the solid phase. To improve the extraction effect, some key parameters of extraction were optimized. Under the optional extraction conditions, the chitin showed excellent adsorption capacity and selectivity over rutin, emodin, quercetin, and 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone, with enrichment factors reaching 5 folds. The CE coupled with fluorescence detection was used for the detection. Results prove the method is simple, fast, and highly sensitive, with the limit of detection (LOD) is 3.00-200.0 ng/mL; the recovery is 90.0-107.0%, and relative standard deviation of (RSD) is 1.8-8.3%.

Physcion, a novel inhibitor of 5α-reductase that promotes hair growth in vitro and in vivo

Androgenic alopecia (AGA) has a high incidence. Excess dihydrotestosterone in blood capillaries, which is converted from testosterone by 5α-reductase, is an AGA causative factor. We identified the inhibitory activity of four Polygonum multiflorum compounds against 5α-reductase via high-performance liquid chromatography, and the results showed that Physcion was a potent 5α-reductase inhibitor. Additionally, we found that through inhibiting 5α-reductase expression, Physcion could shorten the time of dorsal skin darkening and hair growth, improve hair follicle morphology, and significantly increase hair follicle count. Eventually, through molecular docking study, we found the binding energy and molecular interactions between Physcion and 5α-reductase type II. These results suggested that Physcion is a potent 5α-reductase inhibitor, as well as a new natural medicine for treating AGA.

Recent advances of green pretreatment techniques for quality control of natural products

A few advancing technologies for natural product analysis have been widely proposed, which focus on decreasing energy consumption and developing an environmentally sustainable manner. These green sample pretreatment and analysis methods following the green Analytical Chemistry (GAC) criteria have the advantage of improving the strategy of chemical analyses, promoting sustainable development to analytical laboratories, and reducing the negative effects of analysis experiments on the environment. A few minimized extraction methodologies have been proposed for replacing the traditional methods in the quality evaluation of natural products, mainly including solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and liquid phase microextraction (LPME). These procedures not only have no need for large numbers of samples and toxic reagent, but also spend a small amount of extraction and analytical time. This overview aims to list out the main green strategies on the application of quality evaluation and control for natural products in the past 3 years.

Biosurfactant trehalose lipid-enhanced ultrasound-assisted micellar extraction and determination of the main antioxidant compounds from functional plant tea

Hydrosoluble trehalose lipid (a biosurfactant) was employed for the first time as a green extraction solution to extract the main antioxidant compounds (geniposidic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and rutin) from functional plant tea (Eucommia ulmoides leaves). Single-factor tests and response surface methodology were employed to optimize the extraction conditions for ultrasound-assisted micellar extraction combined with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography in succession. A Box-Behnken design (three-level, three-factorial) was used to determine the effects of extraction solvent concentration (1-5 mg/mL), extraction solvent volume (5-15 mL), and extraction time (20-40 min) at a uniform ultrasonic power and temperature. In consequence, the best analyte extraction yields could be attained when the trehalose lipid solution concentration was prepared at 3 mg/mL, the trehalose lipid solution volume was 10 mL and the extraction time was set to 35 min. In addition, the recoveries of the antioxidants from Eucommia ulmoides leaves analyzed by this analytical method ranged from 98.2 to 102%. These results indicated that biosurfactant-enhanced ultrasound-assisted micellar extraction coupled with a simple ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography method could be effectively applied in the extraction and analysis of antioxidants from Eucommia ulmoides leaf samples.