Plants, Chinese

Illicium religiosum, I. anisatum. Highly toxic Japanese variant of the safe plant, Chinese star anise (/. verum). All parts of the plant, particularly the seeds, are poisonous, causing vomiting and epileptiform convulsions of the type caused by picrotoxin, with dilated pupil and cyanosis. Kills by effects on respiratory and cardiovascular centres in medulla. Regarded as a sacred plant and found growing around Buddhist temples and graveyards. 

Institute of Medicinal Plant Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Xibeiwang, Haidian District Beijing 10094, P.R. China... 

A number of iridoids and secoiridoids (nepetalactones from Serbian Nepeta species, Nestorovic et al. 2010 plumericin and isoplumericin from the stem-cut latex of Himatanthus sucuuba, Silva et al. 2010 Cantleyoside dimethyl acetal from the aerial parts of Pterocephalus perennis Graikou et al. 2002) from different plants (Chinese medicinal plant Cymbaria mongolica, Dai et al. 2002 aerial parts of the... 

Liu L, Wang Y, Li H, Ji Y, Se Pu. 2006. Study of distribution of sinapine in commonly used crude drugs from cruciferous plants. Chinese Journal of Chromatography, 24(1) 49-51. 

Grossmann, I. E. and M. Martin (2010). Energy and water optimization in biofuel plants. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering 18(6) 914-922. 

The latter is the source of the Chinese dmg Chin-Shih-Hu. Compared to the other families of bases discussed eadier, the numbers of alkaloids supposedly derived from famesyl pyrophosphate or a close relative is small. However, given the wide variety of plant families containing sesquiterpenes, it is most likely that the numbers of compounds to be found will dramatically increase. 

When completed in 1996, the Weihe plant will gasify 1500 t/day of coal to produce 300,000 t/yr of ammonia, which will be used to manufacture 520,000 t/yr of urea fertilizer. This project is the eighth Texaco oil or coal gasification plant Hcensed by Chinese industry. 

The most ancient uses of spices appear to be therapeutic in nature. The use of spices was common in China but tittle, if any, authentic Chinese records exist to confirm this. According to Chinese myths and legends, Shen Nung, the Divine Cultivator, founded Chinese medicine and discovered the curative powers of many herbs. He is said to have described more than 100 plants in a treatise reportedly written in 2700 BC. It has been shown, however, that no written language was available in China at that time. Although some of the herbal uses in the treatise go back several centuries BC, the work seems to have been produced by unknown authors in the first century AD. Other records on the use of cassia and ginger are known to have been written in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, in the latter case by Confucius. 

The commercial production of shale oil as an alternative energy source has not been economically feasible. As of 1995, all commercial oil shale operations in the world (Petrobras, Bra2il PAMA, Israel The Chinese Petroleum Corporation, Fushun and Maoming, China KivioH Oil Shale Processing Plant, Kohda-Jarve, Estonia) receive some sort of economic incentives or assistance from the countries in which they are operating. 

Chinese Herbal Medicines. Many traditional Chinese medicines have been screened for radioprotective activity in experimental animals. In one study of more than a thousand Chinese herbs, a number of agents increased the survival rate of dogs exposed to a lethal dose of y-rays by 30—40%, and some symptoms of radiation injury were ameHorated. These effects are potentially related to stimulation of the hemopoietic and immune systems (130). Extracts of five Chinese dmg plants, as weU as aspirin, effectively protected mice exposed to 7.5—8.0 Gy (750—800 rad) of y-radiation, and increased survival rates by 8—50% (131). Several Chinese traditional medicines, adininistered ip before or after irradiation, protected against Hpid peroxidation in a variety of mouse tissues, including BM, Hver, and spleen, as weU as in mouse Hver microsomal suspensions irradiated in vitro (132). 

Evodiamine, the alkaloid from the Chinese drug plant Evodia rutaecarpa Benth. and Hook., has also been called rhetsine and its oxidation product rhetsinine, which is also found in nature, was shown to be the diamide (53). Recently a hypotensive red alkaloid isolated from the Brazilian plant Hortia arborea Engl, was given the name hortiamine. Degradation and synthetic studies have shown it to possess the structure (55). It was found together with another... 

Thiophene, 2,2-bithiophene, and 2,2, 5, 2"-terthiophene derivatives from Chinese medicinal plants as oncogene signal transduction inhibitors (proteinki-nase C inhibitors) 99PAC1101. 

Many alkaloids have pronounced biological properties, and a substantial number of the pharmaceutical agents used today are derived from naturally occurring amines. As a few examples, morphine, an analgesic agent, is obtained from the opium poppy Papaver somnifemm. Cocaine, both an anesthetic and a central nervous system stimulant, is obtained front the coca bush Erythroxylon coca, endemic to upland rain forest areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and western Brazil. Reserpine, a tranquilizer and antihypertensive, comes from powdered roots of the semitropical plant Rauwolfia serpentina. Ephedrine, a bronchodilator and decongestant, is obtained front the Chinese plant Ephedra sinica. 

Figure 9 from Paulsen BS (ed) Bioactive Carbohydrate Polymers. Yamada H (2000) Bioactive plant polysaccharides from Japanese and Chinese traditional herbal medicines , p 15-p24. Kluwer Academic Publishers, with permission from Springer. 

Ephedrine and pseudoephediine are a vasodilator and decongestant respectively used widely in the treatment of asthma and the symptoms of colds and influenza. These pharmaceuticals were derived originally fi om the plant Ephedra sinica and used in traditional Chinese medicinal preparations. Although some are still produced fi om such sources, the major production is via a fermentation process followed by a chemical catalytic reaction. As shown in Figure 1, the intermediate / -phenylacetylcarbinol (PAC) is produced by decarboxylation of pyruvate followed by ligation to benzaldehyde. 

Trichloroethylene has been detected in dairy products (milk, cheese, butter) at 0.3-10 pg/kg (0.3-10 ppb), meat (English beef) at 12-16 ppb, oils and fats at 0-19 ppb, beverages (canned fruit drink, light ale, instant coffee, tea, wine) at 0.02-60 ppb, fruits and vegetables (potatoes, apples, pears, tomatoes) at 0-5 ppb, and fresh bread at 7 ppb (McConnell et al. 1975). Samples obtained from a food processor in Pennsylvania contained trichloroethylene concentrations of 68 ppb in plant tap water, 28 ppb in Chinese-style sauce,... 

---