Chemical and biological investigations of Taxillus lonicerifolius var. lonicerifolius (Hayata) S.T. Chiu

Taxillus lonicerifolius var. lonicerifolius (Hayata) S.T. Chiu is one species of Loranthaceae plants in Taiwan [1]. It has commonly been used in Chinese medicine as a curative from number of ailments such as hemorrhage, gout, epilepsy, arthritis and rheumatism.

Fifty-seven compounds were isolated from the fresh Taxillus lonicerifolius var. lonicerifolius, and forty-six of these compounds were determined by spectral analysis and compared with authentic literatures. These isolated compounds were subjected to evaluate their bioactivities. The results showed that compounds from n-BuOH layer extract, myricetin, quercetin, quercetin-3-O-β-D-galacoside, quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside, rutin, quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucuronide methyl ester, (-)-catechin and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate are better than α-tocopherol in scavenging DPPH radicals, and virgatic acid has significant inhibition of fMLP/CB stimulated superoxide anion production in human neutrophils.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by program project funded by the National Science Council, Taiwan.

Reference: 1. Chiu, S. T. (1996) Taiwania, 41, 154–167.