A new dihydrochalcone from dragon's blood, red resin ofDracaena cochinchinensis

Medicinal plant resin natural products: structural diversity and biological activities

Covering: up to the mid of 2023Plants secrete defense resins rich in small-molecule natural products under abiotic and biotic stresses. This comprehensive review encompasses the literature published up to mid-2023 on medicinal plant resin natural products from six main contributor genera, featuring 275 citations that refer to 1115 structurally diverse compounds. The scope of this review extends to include essential information such as the racemic nature of metabolites found in different species of plant resins, source of resins, and revised structures. Additionally, we carefully analyze the reported biological activities of resins, organizing them based on the their structures. The findings offer important insights into the relationship between their structure and activity. Furthermore, this detailed examination can be valuable for researchers and scientists in the field of medicinal plant resin natural products and will promote continued exploration and progress in this area.

Dragon's Blood from Dracaena Worldwide: Species, Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology

Dragon's blood (DB) refers mainly to the crimson resin of many Dracaena spp. DB has been used by different traditional medicine systems worldwide, including Arabic medicine, African medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, Thai medicine, etc. DB are mainly used to heal wounds, kill pain, stop bleeding, and cure various diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and ulcers for over 1000 years. 11 Dracaena spp. and 3 subspecies are reported to be able to produce red resin. However, the resources are extremely deficient. Several Dracaena spp. are in threatened status. Over 300 compounds have been isolated from Dracaena spp., mainly including flavonoids, steroids, and phenolics. DB exhibits anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antithrombotic, anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties, which explain its wound healing effects, preventive effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, dual-directional regulation of blood flow, neuroprotection and radioprotective effects. No apparent side effects or toxicity have been reported. DB are restricted from being exploited due to limited resources and unclear resin formation mechanism. It is necessary to expand the cultivation of Dracaena spp. and fully understand the mechanism underlying the resin formation process to develop an effective induction method for the sustainable utilization of DB.

Flavonoids and Stilbenoids of the Genera Dracaena and Sansevieria: Structures and Bioactivities

The genera Dracaena and Sansevieria (Asparagaceae, Nolinoideae) are still poorly resolved phylogenetically. Plants of these genera are commonly distributed in Africa, China, Southeast Asia, and America. Most of them are cultivated for ornamental and medicinal purposes and are used in various traditional medicines due to the wide range of ethnopharmacological properties. Extensive in vivo and in vitro tests have been carried out to prove the ethnopharmacological claims and other bioactivities. These investigations have been accompanied by the isolation and identification of hundreds of phytochemical constituents. The most characteristic metabolites are steroids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and saponins; many of them exhibit potent analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and cytotoxic activities. This review highlights the structures and bioactivities of flavonoids and stilbenoids isolated from Dracaena and Sansevieria.

A unique C-linked chalcone-dihydrochalcone dimer from Dracaena cinnabari resin

A new C-linked chalcone-dihydrochalcone dimer, named dracidione, was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of dragon's blood resin of Dracaena cinnabari Balf. f. Structure elucidation of the new compound was carried out by means of one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy in addition to high resolution mass spectrometry. The unique structure incorporated a chalcone and a dihydrochalcone, which is reported for the first time from nature. Furthermore, dracidione showed moderate α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC₅₀= 40.27 µg/ml.

Flavonoid oligomers from Chinese dragon’s blood, the red resins of Dracaena cochinchinensis

A detailed chemical investigation of the red resins from Dracaena cochinchinensis (Chinese dragon’s blood) yielded five new flavonoid oligomers, named cochinchinenins D-H (1–5), together with a known biflavonoid, cinnabarone (6), and a mixture of two known biflavonoids, socotrin-4′-ol (7) and homoisosocotrin-4′-ol (8). Of these new compounds, 1–3 were biflavonoids and 4 and 5 were triflavonoids. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The isolated compounds were tested for cytotoxicity (Cdc25), antibacterial (PEPT) and antifungal (YNG) activities.