Our laboratory initiated a program to screen bioactive natural products from medicinal plants grown in the Wumeng mountain area in the Yungui plateau region of China. One of these medicinal plants, Yansun (Thunia alba L.), locally known as “rock bamboo”, has been traditionally used as a folk medicine by the Miao minority for numerous ailments including coughing, blood stasis, and bone fracture. In preliminary screening, the aerial parts of Yansun were extracted and evaluated for the bioactivities using a series of in vitro bioassays including polyphenol content, antioxidant, anti-α-glucosidase, and anti-glycation. A Yansun methanolic extract (YME) had a total polyphenol content of 27.1% (w/w %; as gallic acid equivalents). In addition, the YME showed potent antioxidant activity in the free radical scavenging (DPPH) assay. At concentrations from 50-2000 µg/mL, YME scavenged 13.7-63.5% free radical, respectively. Isolation, identification, and biological evaluation of compounds from the YME are currently being pursued by our group.

Biological evaluation of Yansun (Thunia alba L.) extract from Yungui plateau in China

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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