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Functional Teas from the Stems of Penthorum chinense Pursh.: Phenolic Constituents, Antioxidant and Hepatoprotective Activity

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Abstract

Penthorum chinense Pursh (PCP), a medicinal and edible plant, is traditionally used for liver protection and treatment of liver diseases. In this study, we compared the differences of composition and activity of flowers, stems and leaves of PCP to select a bioactive part. The stems of PCP with stronger antioxidant activity (6.25–100 μg/mL) and lower cytotoxicity (25–200 μg/mL) than the flowers and leaves were a better bioactive part. Then the chemical composition and hepatoprotective effects of an aqueous extract and an 70% ethanolic extract made with stems of PCP were investigated. We found that the 70% ethanolic extract enriched more polyphenols and flavonoids and possessed significantly stronger hepatoprotective activity than the aqueous extract in the dose range of 25–200 μg/mL, which indicated that 70% ethanol is the better solvent of PCP in extraction technology. Moreover, ethyl acetate extract of stems of PCP (PSE) was used to evaluate the hepatoprotective ability of PCP against oxidative damage using an in vitro model of a normal rat’s liver cell (BRL-3A). Besides, 12 phenolic compounds were identified from PSE by ultra-performance liquid chromatography followed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS). Obtained results strongly support the traditional use of PCP and prove stems of PCP to be an important source of bioactive compounds associated with hepatoprotective activity.

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Abbreviations

PCP:

Penthorum chinense Pursh

AE:

aqueous extracts

EE:

ethanolic extracts

PFE/PSE/PLE:

ethyl acetate fraction of Penthorum chinense Pursh flowers, stems and leaves

ALT:

alanine aminotransferase

AST:

aspartate aminotransferase

LDH:

lactate dehydrogenase

MDA:

malondialdehyde

GSH:

glutathione

CAT:

catalase

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

TPC:

total phenolic content

TFC:

total flavonoid content

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31570351, Date: 2016.01-2019.12).

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Author notes

  1. Libo He and Shiyan Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Bio-Resources and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Libo He, Shiyan Zhang, Chaomei Luo, Yiran Sun, Qiuxia Lu, Fang Chen & Lin Tang

  2. National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Energy Plant Bio-Oil Production and Application, Chengdu, China

    Libo He, Shiyan Zhang, Chaomei Luo, Yiran Sun, Qiuxia Lu, Fang Chen & Lin Tang

  3. Institute of New Energy and Low-Carbon Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Huang

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He, L., Zhang, S., Luo, C. et al. Functional Teas from the Stems of Penthorum chinense Pursh.: Phenolic Constituents, Antioxidant and Hepatoprotective Activity. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 74, 83–90 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-018-0701-2

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