Bioactive constituents

Stavri M, Ford CH, Bucar F, et al. Bioactive constituents of Artemisia monosperma. Phytochemistry 2005 66 233-239. 

Major food plants and their bioactive constituents... 

Keywords Ajuga postii, bioactive constituents, cytotoxic activity, DNA damaging... 

Rodriguez E, Aregullin M, Nishida T, Uehara S, Wrangham R, Abramowski Z, Finlayson A, Towers GH. (1985). Thiarubrine A, a bioactive constituent of Aspilia (Asteraceae) consumed by wild chimpanzees. Experientia. 41(3) 419-20. 

Lenta BN, Tantangmo F, Devkota KD, Wansi JD, Chouna JR, Soh RC, Neumann B, Stamler HC, Tsamo E, Sewald N. (2009) Bioactive constituents of the stem bark of Beilschmiedia zenkeri. J Nat Prod 72 2130-2134. 

Extracts of plants have been used as insecticides by humans since before the time of the Romans. Some of these extracts have yielded compounds useful as sources (e.g., pyrethrins, rotenoids, alkaloids), others as models (e.g., pyrethrins, physostigmine) of commercial insecticides. Recent technological advances which facilitate the isolation and identification of the bioactive constituents of plants should ensure the continued usefulness of plant compounds in commercial insect control, both as sources and models of new insect control agents and also as components in host plant resistance mechanisms. The focus in this paper will be on several classes of compounds, including limonoids, chromenes, ellagitannins, and methyl ketones, which were found to be components of the natural defenses of both wild and cultivated plants and which may be useful in commercial insect control. 

Table IV. Growth-Inhibitory Activity of Some Bioactive Constituents Derived from Geranium viscosissimum var. viscosissimum Fed in an Artificial Diet to First-Instar Larvae of Heliothis virescens...

Hostettmann, K. et al.. Rapid detection and subsequent isolation of bioactive constituents of crude plant extract, Planta Med., 63, 2, 1997. 

Yoshikawa, M. et al.. Bioactive constituents of Chinese natural medicines. III. Absolute stereostructures of new dihydroflavonols, hovenitins I, II and III, isolated from Hoveniae Semen Sen Eructus, the seed and fruit of Hovenia dulcis Thumb. (Rhamnaceae) inhibitory effect on alcohol-induced muscular relaxation and hepatoprotective activity, Yakugaku Zasshi, 117, 108, 1997. 

ILs have been used in the CE-electrochemiluminescence (ECL) method to determine bioactive constituents in Chinese traditional medicine [58]. CE/Tris(2,2-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)3 +) ECL, CE-ECL, with an IL detection system was established to determine bioactive constituents in Chinese traditional medicine opium poppy, which contains large amounts of coexistent substances. Running buffer containing 25 mM borax-8 mM [C2CiIm][BF4] (pH 9.18) was used, which resulted in significant changes in separation selectivity and obvious enhancement in ECL intensities for those alkaloids with similar structures. Quantitative analysis of four alkaloids was... 

Gao, Y., Xiang, Q., Xu, Y., Tian, Y, and Wang, E., The use of CE-electrochemi-luminescence with ionic liquid for the determination of bioactive constituents in Chinese traditional medicine. Electrophoresis, Tl, 4842-4848, 2006. 

Morphine Morphine (C17H19NO3), a habit forming Class A analgesic drug, is the major bioactive constituent of opium poppy seeds. Like other opium constituents (opiates), e.g. heroin, morphine acts directly on the CNS to relieve pain. Morphine is used for the treatment of post-surgical pain and chronic pain (e.g. cancer pain), and as an adjunct to general anaesthesia, and... 

St. John s wort and some individual constituents of the preparations have been administered orally, topically, and intravenously in various pharmaceutical formulations, including tinctures, teas, capsules, purified components, and tablets. These botanical preparations of St. John s wort are prepared from plant components (i.e., flowers, buds, and stalk) whose content of the wide array of structurally diverse bioactive constituents may differ (Table 1 and Fig. 2). Many commercial tablet and capsule formulations of St. John s wort are standardized using the ultraviolet absorbance of the naphtho-dianthrones, hypericin, and pseudohypericin, to contain 0.3% hypericin content. Thus, a 300 mg dose of St. John s wort contains approximately 900 pg hypericin per dose. Despite the standardization of dosage forms... 

To ensure lot-to-lot consistency, standardization of extracts often relies on constituents as biomarkers for plant identity and potency. SJW Hypericum perforatum), a perennial shrub traditionally used as a mood enhancer and mild antidepressant, has been tested in dozens of clinical trials, with mixed results for efficacy. Some of its purported bioactive constituents include naphthodianthrones, including hypericin flavonoids phloroglucinols, including hyperforin and essential oils. For many years, hypericin was presumed to be the active component. As a result most extracts were standardized based on hypericin concentration. Recent data, however, support other components such as hyperforin and the flavanoids, that may also contribute to the therapeutic efficacy of the SJW extracts (33-35). Because these secondary components were previously unaccounted for in the standardization of the former clinical test articles, and because these constituents are chemically unrelated to and their content within the plant varies independently of hypericin, it has been argued that the potency of these constituents in any particular batch was unlikely to be similar to that of other batches. This variability between batches could explain the observed differences in the clinical trial results (36). 

Yoshikawa, M., T. Murakami, H. Shimada, and S. Yoshizumi. 1998. Medicinal foodstuffs. XIV. On the bioactive constituents of moroheiya. II New fatty acids, cor-chorifatty acids , , C, D, E, and F, from the leaves of Corchorus olitorius L. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 46 1008-1014. 

The major types of bioactive constituents reported from Broussonetia papyrifera are the prenylated flavonoids, which include compounds of the diphenylpropane, chalcone, flavan, flavanone, flavone, flavonol, and aurone classes (Table 2), Fig. (7). An early study on B. papyrifera resulted in the isolation of two diphenylpropanes, broussonins A (29) and B (30), and a coumarin, marmesin (52), with antifungal activity [39]. Also, a diprenylated diphenylpropane derivative, kazinol F (31) [40], was reported as an antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory constituent [34]. 

A selective and effective set of bioassays to detect which plant extracts contain bioactive constituents. 

The process of drug discovery from plants involves several steps, from plant collection and vouchering through the preparation of plant extracts to bioassay of the extracts and isolation and structure elucidation of bioactive constituents. An important aspect of this project was that it was conducted with the full informed consent not only of the government of Suriname but also of the Saramaka Maroon tribal people of our collection sites. The way this was done is important, as it sets a standard for future work of this type. 

Bioassay-directed fractionation of this plant led to the isolation of the known alkaloid verazine (16) and eight related compounds (six of them newly reported) as the bioactive constituents alkaloids 17 and 18 are examples of the new compounds isolated. The relative stereochemistry of the new alkaloids was established by careful ID- and 2D-NMR experiments. 

TL Mounts, SL Abidi, KA Rennick. Effect of genetic modification on the content and composition of bioactive constituents in soybean oil. J Am Oil Chem Soc 73 581-586, 1996. 

Shao N, Yao G, Chang LC (2007) Bioactive Constituents from the Marine Crinoid Himerometra magnipinna. J Nat Prod 70 869... 

One reason that dominant plants are successful in semi-arid and arid ecosystems is due to the high concentration of terpenoids and prenylated phenolics that repel and/or deter feeding by herbivorous insects. Compounds like sesquiterpene lactones and benzopyrans are present in high quantities in the leaves of species of Pjajl t h ij jn, E n c e l i a and D i c o r i a and have been demonstrated to be effective feeding deterrents against known economic insect pests. Ijt vivo experiments are still needed in the field with bioactive constituents to better understand their effects on native phytophagous insects. 

Bioassay guided fractionation of the methanol extract of an Indonesian sample of I. hasta resulted in the isolation of a total of eight bastadins representing each of the three structural motifs found in the series [128,129]. Bastadin 6 (114) was isolated as the major bioactive constituent of the sponge and inhibited the VEGF- and... 

Bak I. Lekli I. Juhasz B. Varga E. Varga B. Gesztelyi R. Szendrei L. Tosaki A. 2010. Isolation and analysis of bioactive constituents of sour cherry (Prunus cerasus) seed kernel an emerging functional food. J. Med. Food 13 905-910. 

The neurological effects of kava are attributed to a group of substituted dihydropyrones called kava lactones (1). The main bioactive constituents include yangonin, desmethoxyyangonin, 11-methoxyyangonin, kavain (kawain), dihydrokavain, methysticin, dihydromethysticin, and 5,6-dehydromethysticin (8). It is believed that the components present in the lipid-soluble kava extract, or kava resin, are responsible for the central nervous system (CNS) activities of kava including sedation, hypnosis, analgesia, and muscle relaxation (9). Aqueous kava extract was not active orally in mice or rats. 

In recent years, there has also been increased interest in functional foods — foods that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Functional foods may include fortified foods where nutrients have been added, for example, calcium in orange juice, or foods where natural bioactive constituents have been enhanced through either addition or breeding strategies. Much like traditional medicines, these foods are complex mixtures of chemicals. 

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