In the present study, we aimed to intensively study the chemical constituents, especially organic acids from a medicinal plant Portulaca oleracea L., and screen their anti-inflammatory and quinone reductase （QR, a phase II detoxyfication enzyme） inductive activity. A total of 20 compounds were isolated and identified based on spectroscopic methods, as succinic acid （1）, mono-methyl succinate （2）, L-malic acid （3）, L-l-methyl malate （4）, L-4-methyl malate （5）, L-dimethyl malate （6）, L-6-ethyl citrate （7）, L-1-methyl citrate （8）, L-1,5-dimethyl citrate （9）, 4-hydroxy-5-methylfuran-3-carboxylic acid （10）, 5-hydroxymethyl-furoic acid （11）, stearic acid （12）, L-pyroglutamic acid （13）, cyclo-（tyrosine-leucine） （14）, L-isoleucine （15）, （-）-dehydrovomifoliol （16）, （-）-epiloliolide （17）, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethanol （18）, succinimide （19）, and uracil （20）. Among them, 14 compounds （2, 4-8, 10, 11, 13-18） were isolated from P. oleracea for the first time. Compotmd 18 （12.5 μM） exhibited potent anti-inflammatory effect in lipopolysaccharide （LPS）-induced macrophage cells （RAW264.7） by reducing NO production, and it also increased QR activity in Hepa lclc7 cells. Compound 16 （50 μM） showed weak QR inductive activity. None of other compounds showed anti-inflammatory or QR inductive activities.
This study was conducted to investigate the chemical constituents of Piper wallichii （Miq.） Hand.-Mazz. and evaluate their biological activity. Compounds were isolated by various column chromatographic methods, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of physical characteristics and spectral data. The 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl （DPPH）-scavenging activity and acetylcholinesterase （AChE）-inhibitory activity of the compounds were evaluated. Five compounds were obtained and identified as 8-C-β-D-glucopyranosylkaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside （1）, 1, 2-dihydro-6,8-dimethoxy-7-hydroxy-l-（3, 5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl）-N^1, N^2-bis-[2-（4-hydroxyphenyl）ethyl]-2, 3-naphthalene dicarboxamide （2）, goniothalactam （3）, aristololactam A IIla （4） and piperlonguminine （5）. Compound 1 was a new flavonol C-glycoside, 2 was a rare lignanamide, which was isolated from the family Piperaceae for the first time, and compound 3 was isolated from this plant for the first time. Among them, 2 showed potent DPPH-scavenging activity, with IC50 of 31.38 ± 0.97 μmol·L^-1; Compounds 2, 3, and 4 showed AChE inhibitory activity at 100 μmol·L^-1, with inhibition rates of 28.57% ± 1.47%, 18.48% ± 2.41% and 17.4% ±3.03%, respectively.
Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase （ACHE） is one of the approaches for the treatment of Alzheimer＇s disease （AD）. In this paper the AChE inhibitory activities of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of 48 traditional Chinese medicinal herbs were evaluated. These traditional Chinese medicines have intelligence-promoting, anti-insomnia, sedative, neurotonic or tonic effects. Microplate assay indicated that ethanolic extracts of 28 traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and water extracts of 11 herbs showed AChE inhibitory activities. Among them, ethanolic extracts of Herba Moslae, Fructus Alpiniae Oxyphyllae, Radix Rehmanniae and Folium Nelumbinis showed most potent AChE inhibitory activities at the concentration of 0.1 mg/mL, with （68.63±1.12）%, （44.49±3.66）%, （43.78±4.76）%, and （42.63±8.31）% inhibition, respectively. The AChE inhibitory activities were also confirmed by TLC bioautographic assay. These results partially validate the traditional uses of some medicinal herbs for cognitive improvement.
In the present study, we aimed to detect and quantify cyclo-dopa amides in Portulaca oleracea L. Together with four known ones （oleracein A-D）, we further identified eight new cyclo-dopa amides, named oleracein H-O, using an HPLC-DAD combined with an improved HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method. A standardized HPLC fingerprint of cyclo-dopa amides was generated for the first time through analyzing 11 batches ofP. oleracea. Simultaneously, the contents of two major amides, oleracein A （OA） and oleracein B （OB）, and the total amides （TID） were determined. Our results showed that the contents of OA and OB of P. oleracea ranged from 35.00 to 151.93 mg/kg and from 40.00 to 150.44 mg/kg, respectively. Moreover, TID ranged from 314.16 to 928.60 mg/kg （calculated by OA）, or from 475.83 to 1393.00 mg/kg （calculated by OB）. Taken together, our newly develooed method could be used for the aualitv assessment and oualitv control of this herb.
