GC-MS and HPLC Metabolic Profiling Studies ofCurcuma wenyujinRhizomes Obtained at Different Harvest Times

Analysis of genetic and chemical variability of five Curcuma species based on DNA barcoding and HPLC fingerprints

The rhizomes of Curcuma species have a long medicinal history in Asia. In China, Curcuma species mainly be utilized to make pharmaceutical products, including C. phaecocaulis, C. aromatica, C. wenyujin, C. kwangsiensis and C. longa. In this study, twenty-four samples were selected to study the genetic and chemical variability among five Curcuma species. The ITS2 and trnK intron gene fragment were used to identify the five Curcuma species, the differences in chemical composition were computed using the Euclidean distance based on the data of HPLC characteristic peak areas and the content of six key components, and agronomic characteristics were analyzed including morphological and volatile oil characteristics. The ITS2 and trnK intron gene fragment could distinguish the five Curcuma species clearly. The genetic distance between Curcuma species ranged from 0.0085 to 0.0767 based on the data of ITS2 gene sequences with 32 variation sites, and the genetic distance between Curcuma species ranged from 0.0003 to 0.0194 based on the data of trnK intron gene sequences with 39 variation sites. Five Curcuma species showed otherness chemical composition characteristics, with the Euclidean distance ranging from 3.373 to 6.998. The C. longa showed the biggest variation compared with other species, with the Euclidean distance above 6.239. Among the samples of the original plants of Ezhu, the volatile oil yield of W1 was the highest, reached to 105.75 mL per single plant. Among all the samples, J6 showed the highest yield of volatile oil, reached to 149.42 mL per single plant. The results showed that chemical composition similarity of the medicinal plants was the primary proof for the selection of the original plants of the Curcuma medicinal materials. The genetic distance and chemical variability were important references for discovering new medicinal plant resources.

Profiles of Essential Oils and Correlations with Phenolic Acids and Primary Metabolites in Flower Buds of Magnolia heptapeta and Magnolia denudata var. purpurascens

Magnolia flower buds are a source of herbal medicines with various active compounds. In this study, differences in the distribution and abundance of major essential oils, phenolic acids, and primary metabolites between white flower buds of Magnolia heptapeta and violet flower buds of Magnolia denudata var. purpurascens were characterised. A multivariate analysis revealed clear separation between the white and violet flower buds with respect to primary and secondary metabolites closely related to metabolic systems. White flower buds contained large amounts of monoterpene hydrocarbons (MH), phenolic acids, aromatic amino acids, and monosaccharides, related to the production of isoprenes, as MH precursors, and the activity of MH synthase. However, concentrations of β-myrcene, a major MH compound, were higher in violet flower buds than in white flower buds, possibly due to higher threonine levels and low acidic conditions induced by comparatively low levels of some organic acids. Moreover, levels of stress-related metabolites, such as oxygenated monoterpenes, proline, and glutamic acid, were higher in violet flower buds than in white flower buds. Our results support the feasibility of metabolic profiling for the identification of phytochemical differences and improve our understanding of the correlated biological pathways for primary and secondary metabolites.

Transcriptome sequencing and functional characterization of new sesquiterpene synthases from Curcuma wenyujin

Tubers of Curcuma wenyujin are rich in essential oils, mainly various sesquiterpenes, showing antibacterial, anti-viral and anti-tumor effects. However, the molecular mechanism of C. wenyujin is deficient and related sesquiterpene synthases are still unclear. In this study, the transcriptome data of tubers and leaves from C. wenyujin were obtained and assembled into 78 092 unigenes. Of them, 244 unigenes were predicted to be involved in terpenoid biosynthesis while 131 unigenes were categorized as the "Terpenoid backbone biosynthesis" (TBB) term. Twenty-two unigenes possessed terpene synthase domain; five were predicted to be sesquiterpene synthases. Of the 208 unigenes annotated as cytochromes P450, 8 unigenes with full-length coding sequences were part of the CYP71 clade that primarily may perform hydroxylations of specialized metabolites. Furthermore, Ten DEGs related to the C5 precursor supply and sesquiterpene synthesis were validated by Real-time PCR; that showed a close correspondence with transcriptome sequence. A novel germacrene B synthase (CwGBS) and α-santalene synthase (CwSS) were identified in metabolically engineering E. coli. This study provided the first de novo transcriptome comparative analysis of leaf and tuber tissues from C. wenyujin, aiming to understand genetic mechanisms. Key genes involved in the biosynthesis of sesquiterpene will help for revealing the underlying mechanisms of C. wenyujin.

Transcriptome analysis of Curcuma wenyujin from Haikou and Wenzhou, and a comparison of the main constituents and related genes of Rhizoma Curcumae

For more than a thousand years, Rhizoma Curcumae (known as E zhu), a Chinese herbal medicine, has been used to eradicate blood stasis and relieve aches. The plant Curcuma wenyujin, which is grown primarily in Wenzhou, China, is considered the best source of Rhizoma Curcumae. In this study, we sought to ascertain differences in transcript profiles of C. wenyujin grown in traditional (Wenzhou) and recently established (Haikou) production areas based on Illumina and RNA (RNA-seq) sequencing. We also examined differences in the main components of the volatile oil terpene; curcumin, polysaccharide, and starch constituents and related genes in the corresponding pathways, in C. wenyujin cultivated in the two production areas. We accordingly found that the essential oil (2.05%), curcumin (1.46%), and polysaccharide (8.90%) content in Wenzhou rhizomes was higher than that in the rhizomes of plants from Haikou (1.60%, 0.91%, and 6.15%, respectively). In contrast, the starch content of Wenzhou rhizomes (17.0%) was lower than that of Haikou rhizomes (23.8%). Furthermore, we detected significant differences in the oil components of Haikou and Wenzhou rhizomes, with curzerene (32.34%), curdione (21.35%), and germacrene B (9.39%) being the primary components of the essential oil derived from Wenzhou rhizomes, and curzerene (20.13%), curdione (14.73%), and cineole (9.76%) being the main constituents in Haikou rhizomes. Transcriptome and qPCR analyses revealed considerable differences in gene expression between Wenzhou and Haikou rhizomes. The expression of terpene, curcumin, and polysaccharide pathway-related genes in Wenzhou rhizomes was significantly up-regulated, whereas the expression of starch-associated genes was significantly down-regulated, compared with those in Haikou rhizomes. Difference in the content of terpene, curcumin, polysaccharides, and starch in rhizomes from the two production areas could be explained in terms of differences in expression of the related genes.

Anti-inflammatory effect of volatile oil from Schizonepeta tenuifolia on carrageenin-induced pleurisy in rats and its application to study of appropriate harvesting time coupled with multi-attribute comprehensive index method

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Schizonepeta tenuifolia Briq. (ST) herbs have been used as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for treating colds for thousands of years. The volatile oil is considered as the main material basis responsible for the efficacy of ST and has attracted lots of attention on its anti-inflammatory effect recently.

AIM OF STUDY

This paper investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of the distilled volatile oils from Schizonepeta tenuifolia (STVO) that were collected at different harvesting times on carrageenin-induced pleurisy in rats. Based on the anti-inflammatory effects, instead of contents of marker components, we aim to evaluate the quality and determine the appropriate harvesting time of ST.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

There were eleven groups with eight male rats in each randomly. They were model group, control group, positive group (dexamethasone) and eight groups treated with eight STVOs at different harvesting times. All treatments were performed by gavage and administered once a day on four consecutive days. One hour after the last treatments, except the rats in control group, those in other groups were treated with carrageenin to induce the pleurisy. Four hours later, all the rats were sacrificed and their pleurisy exudates and lung tissues were collected for further analysis. To evaluate the comprehensive anti-inflammatory effect of the eight STVOs, multi-attribute comprehensive index method (MACIM) was used to obtain the integration of various effects.

RESULTS

All the eight STVOs could decrease the seven indicators relating to pleurisy, which were exudate volume, leukocytes, protein level, myeloperoxidase (MPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukine-1β (IL-1β). Majority of these decreases were significant (P<0.01, P<0.05). As far as each indicator was concerned, each STVO showed different effect from others. With MACIM, it was found that STVO in Group 6 was the most effective one with the highest V_s and appropriate harvesting time of ST was in late September.

CONCLUSIONS

The study may provide scientific basis to further understanding of the mechanism of STVO in anti-inflammatory effect of carrageenin-induced pleurisy. Meanwhile, this study also provides a new access to determining the appropriate harvesting time of TCM and even evaluating the quality of TCM.

Electromembrane extraction (EME)--an easy, novel and rapid extraction procedure for the HPLC determination of fluoroquinolones in wastewater samples

For the first time, an electromembrane extraction combined with a HPLC procedure using diode array and fluorescence detection has been developed for the determination of seven widely used fluoroquinolones (FQs): marbofloxacin, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin, gatifloxacin and grepafloxacin. The drugs were extracted from acid aqueous sample solutions (pH 5), through a supported liquid membrane consisting of 1-octanol impregnated in the walls of a S6/2 Accurel® polypropylene hollow fiber, to an acid (pH 2) aqueous acceptor solution inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. The main operational parameters were optimized, and extractions were carried out in 15 min using a potential of 50 V. Enrichment factors of 40-85 have been obtained using only 15 min of extraction time versus 330 min used in a previously proposed hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction procedure. The procedure allows low detection and quantitation limits of 0.005-0.07 and 0.007-0.15 μg L(-1), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the FQs analysis in urban wastewaters.

Identification of insecticidal constituents of the essential oil of Curcuma wenyujin rhizomes active against Liposcelis bostrychophila Badonnel

The aim of this research was to determine the chemical composition and insecticidal activity of the essential oil of Curcuma wenyujin Y.H. Chen et C. Ling rhizomes against the booklouse Liposcelis bostrychophila Badonnel and to isolate any insecticidal constituents from the essential oil. The essential oil of C. wenyujin rhizomes was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. A total of 43 components of the essential oil were identified and the principal compounds in the essential oil were 1,8-cineole (15.26%), camphor (10.12%), germacrone (6.86%), β-elemene (6.33%), curzerene (6.70%), and β-elemenone (5.23%). followed by curzerenone (4.52%), curdione (4.45%) and linalool (4.43%). Based on bioactivity-guided fractionation, the two main active constituents were isolated from the essential oil and identified as 1,8-cineole and camphor. The essential oil of C. wenyujin rhizomes exhibited contact toxicity against L. bostrychophila with an LD₅₀ value of 208.85 µg/cm². Camphor (LD₅₀ = 207.26 µg/cm²) exhibited stronger contact toxicity than 1,8-cineole (LD₅₀ = 1048.75 µg/cm²) against booklouse. The essential oil of C. wenyujin (LC₅₀ = 2.76 mg/L air) also possessed fumigant toxicity against L. bostrychophila, while the two constituents, camphor and 1,8-cineole had LC₅₀ values of 1.03 mg/L air and 1.13 mg/L air, respectively. The results indicate that the essential oil of C. wenyujin rhizomes and its constituent compounds have potential for development as natural insecticides or fumigants for control of insects in stored grains.