An Updated Review on Nelumbo Nucifera Gaertn: Chemical Composition, Nutritional Value and Pharmacological Activities

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn is a recognised herbal plant in ancient medical sciences. Each portion of the plant leaf, flower, seed and rhizome is utilised for nutritional and medicinal purposes. The chemical compositions like phenol, alkaloids, glycoside, terpenoids and steroids have been isolated. The plant contains various nutritional values like lipids, proteins, amino acids, minerals, carbohydrates, and fatty acids. Traditional medicine confirms that the phytochemicals of plants give significant benefits to the treatment of various diseases such as leukoderma, smallpox, dysentery, haematemesis, coughing, haemorrhage, metrorrhagia, haematuria, fever, hyperlipidaemia, cholera, hepatopathy and hyperdipsia. To verify the traditional claims, researchers have conducted scientific biological in vivo and in vitro screenings, which have exhibited that the plant keeps various notable pharmacological activities such as anticancer, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antiviral, hypolipidemic, anti-obesity, antipyretic, hypoglycaemic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities. This review, summaries the nutritional composition, chemical constituents and biological activities substantiated by the researchers done in vivo and in vitro.

A novel absorbent, HOF-3@PU: Preparation and application for sustainable and efficient purification of catalpol and ajugol from Rehmannia glutinosa leaves

This study introduced the preparation of a novel HOF-loaded PU sponge (HOF-3@PU) composite for the sustainable and efficient purification of catalpol and ajugol from Rehmannia glutinosa leaves for the first time. HOF-3 was selected as the best adsorbent from the five synthesised HOFs. HOF-3@PU was prepared by ultrasonication, and the loading conditions were optimised. The results showed that the optimum adsorption conditions are as follows: adsorption liquid volume: 160 mL, flow rate: 3.0 mL/min, pH: 6.0, concentration: 1.62 mg/mL for catalpol and 2.18 mg/mL for ajugol. The optimum desorption conditions are as follows: desorption agent: ethanol, volume fraction: 60%, flow rate: 2.0 mL/min, volume: 300 mL and pH: 6.0. Under the optimal process conditions, the adsorption capacities of catalpol and ajugol were 75.62 and 68.41 mg/g, the desorption rates were 78.5 and 86.4% and the purities were 38.7 and 36.5%, respectively.

Capparis cartilaginea decne (capparaceae): isolation of flavonoids by high-speed countercurrent chromatography and their anti-inflammatory evaluation

Introduction: Capparis cartilaginea Decne. (CC) originates from the dry regions of Asia and the Mediterranean basin. In traditional medicine, tea of CC leaves is commonly used to treat inflammatory conditions such as rheumatism, arthritis, and gout. Due to the limited studies on the phytochemistry and biological activity of CC compared to other members of the Capparaceae family, this work aims to: 1) Identify the chemical composition of CC extract and 2) Investigate the potential anti-inflammatory effect of CC extract, tea and the isolated compounds. Methods: To guarantee aim 1, high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCC) method; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to Electrospray Ionisation and Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-ESIQTOF-MS/MS) were employed for this purpose. To guarantee aim 2, we studied the effect of the isolated flavonoids on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) -9 and -2 in murine macrophages. Molecular docking was initially performed to assess the binding affinity of the isolated flavonoids to the active site of MMP-9. Results and discussion: In silico model was a powerful tool to predict the compounds that could strongly bind and inhibit MMPs. CC extract and tea have shown to possess a significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect, which can partially explain their traditional medicinal use.

Structures, Sources, Identification/Quantification Methods, Health Benefits, Bioaccessibility, and Products of Isorhamnetin Glycosides as Phytonutrients

In recent years, people have tended to consume phytonutrients and nutrients in their daily diets. Isorhamnetin glycosides (IGs) are an essential class of flavonoids derived from dietary and medicinal plants such as Opuntia ficus-indica, Hippophae rhamnoides, and Ginkgo biloba. This review summarizes the structures, sources, quantitative and qualitative analysis technologies, health benefits, bioaccessibility, and marketed products of IGs. Routine and innovative assay methods, such as IR, TLC, NMR, UV, MS, HPLC, UPLC, and HSCCC, have been widely used for the characterization and quantification of IGs. All of the therapeutic effects of IGs discovered to date are collected and discussed in this study, with an emphasis on the relevant mechanisms of their health-promoting effects. IGs exhibit diverse biological activities against cancer, diabetes, hepatic diseases, obesity, and thrombosis. They exert therapeutic effects through multiple networks of underlying molecular signaling pathways. Owing to these benefits, IGs could be utilized to make foods and functional foods. IGs exhibit higher bioaccessibility and plasma concentrations and longer average residence time in blood than aglycones. Overall, IGs as phytonutrients are very promising and have excellent application potential.

Efficient enrichment of total flavonoids from kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala L.) extracts by NKA-9 resin and antioxidant activities of flavonoids extract in vitro

This work established an effective method for kale flavonoids enrichment by resins. Resin screening, adsorption kinetics and isotherms, dynamic adsorption and desorption tests were conducted to optimize the appropriate resins and enrichment conditions. The results showed that NKA-9 was the optimum resin. The best adsorption conditions were 0.2 mg/mL flavonoids concentration, 12.5 bed volume (BV) sample volume and 2 BV/h adsorption rate. The desorption conditions were 3 BV of 80% ethanol at 2 BV/h elution rate. Under these conditions, the product purity was 31.16%. The purified flavonoids extract was mainly comprised of Kaempferol-3-O-sophoroside-7-O-diglucoside, Kaempferol-3,7,4'-O-d-triglucoside, Kaempferol-3-O-feruloyl-sophoroside-7-O-d-glucoside, and Kaempferol-3-O-sinapoyl-sophoroside. Moreover, it presented higher scavenging ability against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and hydroxyl (OH) radical than crude extract. In conclusion, kale flavonoids can be well concentrated by NKA-9 resin and the purified flavonoids extract has good antioxidant activity which can be potentially applied in food, cosmetic or pharmacy industries.

Purification of Four Caffeoylquinic Acid Derivatives from the Flowers of Gynura Procumbens by HSCCC

Four caffeoylquinic acid derivatives from the Gunura procumbens flowers (GPF) were successfully isolated and purified by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). Ethyl acetate-methanol-water (3:1:3, v/v/v) was the optimum biphasic solvent system, which was selected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and run on a preparative scale where the lower aqueous phase was used as the mobile phase with a head-to-tail elution mode. Chlorogenic acid (3.83 mg), Isochlorogenic acid A (6.51 mg), Isochlorogenic acid B (4.38 mg) and Isochlorogenic acid C (4.47 mg) were obtained for the first time in an one-step HSCCC separation from 800 mg of the crude extracts. The purities of four compounds were determined to be >95% by HPLC. Chemical structures of each isolated compounds were identified by nuclear magnetic resonance and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry methods. It is worth noting that all the four compounds were isolated here for the first time from GPF and this work confirms the effectiveness of HSCCC for the separation of compounds contained in complex samples, and provides a foundation for further exploitation of G. procumbens.

Natural alkaloids from lotus plumule ameliorate lipopolysaccharide-induced depression-like behavior: integrating network pharmacology and molecular mechanism evaluation

Depression is a mental disorder that brings severe burdens to patients and their families. Neuroinflammation and neurotrophins are involved in depression. Lotus plumule is a nutritional food with medicinal values. In the present study, we tried to clarify the anti-depressive effect and molecular mechanism of lotus plumule. Network pharmacological analysis, behavior tests, qRT-PCR and western blotting were used. We found 7 potential active components and 91 targets from the TCMSP database. KEGG analysis suggested that lotus plumule significantly affected nitrogen metabolism, calcium signaling, and inflammatory mediator regulation signaling pathways. Consistent with those effects, total alkaloids of lotus plumule (TLA) and active alkaloids differently suppressed the nitric oxide (NO) production and pro-inflammatory mediators. TLA and higenamine significantly ameliorated LPS-induced depression-like behavior, increased BDNF levels, suppressed microglia activation, and inhibited the expression of ER stress-related proteins. Meanwhile, TLA and higenamine activated microglia autophagy by increasing the beclin-1 and LC3B-II expression. Additionally, in the presence of autophagy inhibitor 3-MA, TLA and higenamine did not reduce the LPS-induced NO production or pro-inflammatory mediators. Collectively, TLA and higenamine attenuated LPS-induced depression-like behavior by regulating BDNF-mediated ER stress and autophagy. Therefore, drinking tea of lotus plumule may provide a potential strategy for preventing depression.