Search

Cyclopia species are used for the production of honeybush tea and food ingredient extracts associated with many health benefits. A species-specific high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for Cyclopia maculata, developed and validated, allowed quantification of the major compounds in extracts from "unfermented" and fermented C. maculata. Two xanthones were tentatively identified for the first time in a Cyclopia species, whereas an additional four compounds were tentatively identified for the first time in C. maculata. "Fermentation" (oxidation) decreased the content of all compounds, with the exception of vicenin-2. Similarity analysis of the chromatographic fingerprints of unfermented C. maculata aqueous extracts showed extremely low variation (r ≥ 0.97) between samples. Some differences between wild-harvested and cultivated seedling plants were, however, demonstrated using principal component analysis. Quantitative data of selected compounds confirmed the low level of variation, making this Cyclopia species ideal for the production of standardized food ingredient extracts.

Enzyme binding affinity has been recently introduced as a selective screening method to identify bioactive substances within complex mixtures. We used an assay which identified small molecule binders of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) using the following series of steps: incubation of enzyme with extract; centrifugation and filtration; identification of small molecule content in the flow through. The crude extract contained 10 peaks in the UPLC chromatogram. However, after incubation the enzyme, six peaks were reduced, indicating these compounds bound AChE. All these isolated compounds (2, 3, and 5-8) significantly inhibited human AChE with IC₅₀s = 5.4-15.0 μM and butyrylcholinsterase (IC₅₀s = 0.7-11.0 μM). All compounds exhibited reversible mixed kinetics. Consistent with the binding screen and fluorescence quenching, γ-mangostin 6 had a much higher affinity for AChE than 9-hydroxycalabaxanthone 9. This validates this screening protocol as a rapid method to identify inhibitors of AChE.

Information about the anti-inflammatory activity and metabolism of α-mangostin (α-MG), the most abundant xanthone in mangosteen fruit, in human cells is limited. On the basis of available literature, we hypothesized that α-MG will inhibit the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators by control and activated macrophage-like THP-1, hepatic HepG2, enterocyte-like Caco-2, and colon HT-29 human cell lines, as well as primary human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM), and that such activity would be influenced by the extent of metabolism of the xanthone. α-MG attenuated TNF-α and IL-8 secretion by the various cell lines but increased TNF-α output by both quiescent and LPS-treated MDM. The relative amounts of free and phase II metabolites of α-MG and other xanthones present in media 24 h after addition of α-MG was shown to vary by cell type and inflammatory insult. Increased transport of xanthones and their metabolites across Caco-2 cell monolayers suggests enhanced absorption during an inflammatory episode. The anti-inflammatory activities of xanthones and their metabolites in different tissues merit consideration.

8-Prenylnaringenin (8PN), which presents in hop, enjoys fame as the most potential phytoestrogen. Although a number of health effects are attributed to 8PN, few reports are available about the production of it. In this work, screening of fungi to efficiently transform isoxanthohumol (IXN) into 8PN was designed. The biotransformation of IXN was significantly observed in Eupenicillium javanicum, Cunninghamella blakesleana, and Ceriporiopsis subvermispora under five kinds of transformation conditions. As a comparative result of IXN transformation, E. javanicum was the optimal biocatalyst to produce 8PN. Transformation caused by growing precultured fungal mycelia, a process designated as G2, was a favorable condition for IXN transformation in view of the yield of 8PN. The possible transformation pathway of 8PN bioproduction is postulated in this work. The construction of fungus and transformation mode derived from the current work is viable and an alternative procedure for 8PN formation.