Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection

1. Biology (Basel). 2021 May 22;10(6):458. doi: 10.3390/biology10060458.

Seasonal Variations of Rosmarinic Acid and Its Glucoside and Expression of Genes 
Related to Their Biosynthesis in Two Medicinal and Aromatic Species of Salvia 
subg. Perovskia.

Stafiniak M(1), Ślusarczyk S(1), Pencakowski B(1), Matkowski A(1), Rahimmalek 
M(2)(3), Bielecka M(1).

Author information:
(1)Department of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, Wroclaw Medical 
University, Borowska 211, 50-556 Wroclaw, Poland.
(2)Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of 
Technology, Isfahan 841583111, Iran.
(3)Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants, Wroclaw Medical University, Jana 
Kochanowskiego 14, 51-601 Wroclaw, Poland.

Salvia abrotanoides Kar. and Salvia yangii B.T. Drew are medicinal and aromatic 
plants belonging to the subgenus Perovskia and used as herbal medicines in Asia. 
Derivatives of caffeic acid, mainly rosmarinic acid (RA), are the major phenolic 
compounds identified in these plants. Understanding the factors and molecular 
mechanisms regulating the accumulation of pharmacologically and ecologically 
relevant phenolic metabolites is essential for future biotechnological and 
medical applications. Up to date, no studies of phenylpropanoid biosynthetic 
pathway at the transcriptional level has been performed in the Perovskia 
subgenus. Using a combined qRT-PCR transcriptional activity analysis with LC-MS 
based metabolic profiling of roots and leaves at the beginning, in the middle 
and at the end of vegetation season, we have identified the following gene 
candidates with properties correlating to phenolic acid biosynthesis in S. 
abrotanoides and S. yangii: PAL, C4H, 4CL, TAT, HPPR, RAS1, RAS2 and Cyp98A14. A 
comparison of phenolic acid profiles with gene transcript levels revealed the 
transcriptional regulation of RA biosynthesis in the roots but not the leaves of 
the studied species. Additionally, RAS1 and Cyp98A14 were identified as 
rate-limiting steps regulating phenylpropanoid biosynthesis on a transcription 
level. In the future, this will facilitate the gene-based metabolic enhancement 
of phenolic compounds production in these promising medicinal herbs.

DOI: 10.3390/biology10060458
PMCID: PMC8224735
PMID: 34067387

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The 
funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or 
interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to 
publish the results.


2. J Ethnopharmacol. 2018 Oct 28;225:18-30. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.06.029. Epub 
2018 Jun 20.

Ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of Chinese Salvia species: A 
review.

Xu J(1), Wei K(2), Zhang G(1), Lei L(3), Yang D(1), Wang W(3), Han Q(1), Xia 
Y(3), Bi Y(3), Yang M(1), Li M(4).

Author information:
(1)Baotou Medical College, Baotou 014060, Inner Mongolia, China.
(2)Guangxi Key Laboratory of Medicinal Resources Protection and Genetic 
Improvement, Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants, Nanning, Guangxi 
530023, China.
(3)Inner Mongolia Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hohhot, Inner 
Mongolia 010020, China.
(4)Baotou Medical College, Baotou 014060, Inner Mongolia, China; Guangxi Key 
Laboratory of Medicinal Resources Protection and Genetic Improvement, Guangxi 
Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants, Nanning, Guangxi 530023, China; Inner 
Mongolia Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 
010020, China. Electronic address: prof_liminhui@yeah.net.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The genus Salvia is one of the largest genera of 
the Lamiaceae family. In China, about 40 Salvia species have been used as 
medicinal plants for treatment of various diseases, specifically hepatic and 
renal diseases and those of the cardiovascular and immune systems.
AIM OF THIS REVIEW: This review aims to provide systematically organized 
information on the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and 
toxicology of medicinal Salvia species in China to support their therapeutic 
potential in the treatment of human diseases.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant information on the Chinese Salvia species was 
obtained from scientific online databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and 
SciFinder. Additional information was derived from other literature sources 
(e.g. Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 edition, Chinese herbal classic books, PhD and 
MSc thesis, etc).
RESULTS: Our comprehensive analysis of the scientific literature indicates that 
many Chinese Salvia species are valuable and popular herbal medicines with 
therapeutic potentials to cure various ailments. Phytochemical analyses 
identified diterpenoids and phenolic acids as the major bioactive substances in 
Chinese Salvia species. Crude extracts and pure compounds isolated from the 
Chinese Salvia species exhibited various pharmacological activities, typically 
targeting the cardiovascular and immune systems and hepatic and renal diseases.
CONCLUSION: This review summarizes the results from current studies about basic 
properties of medicinal Salvia species in China, such as active constituents and 
their mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, underlying molecular mechanisms, 
toxicology, and efficacy, which are still being studied and explored to achieve 
integration into medical practice.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.06.029
PMID: 29935346 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


3. J Sep Sci. 2015 Feb;38(3):402-9. doi: 10.1002/jssc.201401130. Epub 2015 Jan 7.

Differentiation of mint (Mentha haplocalyx Briq.) from different regions in 
China using gas and liquid chromatography.

Dong W(1), Ni Y, Kokot S.

Author information:
(1)State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, 
Nanchang, China; Spice and Beverage Research Institute, Chinese Academy of 
Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Wanning, China.

In this study, complex substances such as Mint (Mentha haplocalyx Briq.) samples 
from different growing regions in China were analyzed for phenolic compounds by 
high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection and for the 
volatile aroma compounds by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. 
Chemometrics methods, e.g. principal component analysis, back-propagation 
artificial neural networks, and partial least squares discriminant analysis, 
were applied to resolve complex chromatographic profiles of Mint samples. A 
total of 49 aroma components and 23 phenolic compounds were identified in 79 
Mint samples. Principal component analysis score plots from gas chromatography 
with mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography with diode 
array detection data sets showed a clear distinction among Mint from three 
different regions in China. Classification results showed that satisfactory 
performance of prediction ability for back-propagation artificial neural 
networks and partial least squares discriminant analysis. The major compounds 
that contributed to the discrimination were chlorogenic acid, unknown 3, 
kaempherol 7-O-rutinoside, salvianolic acid L, hesperidin, diosmetin, unknown 6 
and pebrellin in Mint according to regression coefficients of the partial least 
squares discriminant analysis model. This study indicated that the proposed 
strategy could provide a simple and rapid technique to distinguish clearly 
complex profiles from samples such as Mint.

© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

DOI: 10.1002/jssc.201401130
PMID: 25431171 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


4. Yao Xue Xue Bao. 2011 Nov;46(11):1352-6.

Determination and biosynthesis of multiple salvianolic acids in hairy roots of 
Salvia miltiorrhiza.

Zhao SJ(1), Zhang JJ, Yang L, Wang ZT, Hu ZB.

Author information:
(1)The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources & Quality Evaluation of Chinese 
Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Complex Prescription, Institute of Chinese 
Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 
201203, China.

Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge) hairy roots were obtained by infecting 
Danshen leaves with Agrobacterium rhizogenes 9402. Besides rosmarinic acid (RA) 
and salvianolic acid B (SAB), the hairy root could also produce salvianolic acid 
K (SAK), salvianolic acid L, ethyl salvianolic acid B (ESAB), methyl salvianolic 
acid B (MSAB), and a compound with a molecular weight of 538 (compound 538) 
identified by using LC-MS. Effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and yeast elicitor 
(YE) on the accumulation of these compounds had been investigated. MeJA 
increased the accumulation of SAB, RA, SAK, and compound 538 from 4.21%, 2.48%, 
0.29%, and 0.01% of dry weight to 7.11%, 3.38%, 0.68%, and 0.04%, respectively. 
YE stimulated the biosynthesis of RA from 2.83% to 5.71%, but depressed the 
synthesis of SAB, SAK and compound 538. It was indicated in all the results that 
these Danshen hairy roots could be used as alternative resources to produce 
salvianolic acids. Analysis of the content variation of these compounds after 
elicitation suggested that SAK and compound 538 might be the intermediates in 
the biosynthesis from RA to SAB in Danshen hairy roots.

PMID: 22260028 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


5. J AOAC Int. 2011 Jan-Feb;94(1):43-50.

Determination of polyphenols in Mentha longifolia and M. piperita field-grown 
and in vitro plant samples using UPLC-TQ-MS.

Krzyzanowska J(1), Janda B, Pecio L, Stochmal A, Oleszek W, Czubacka A, Przybys 
M, Doroszewska T.

Author information:
(1)Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation-State Research Institute, 
Department of Biochemistry, ul. Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland.

Nine polyphenols in the aerial parts of Mentha longifolia have been separated by 
chromatographic techniques. Their structures have been confirmed by 
HPLC/electrospray ionization-MS/MS. The compounds identified included rosmarinic 
acid, salvianolic acid L, dedihydro-salvianolic acid, luteolin-glucuronide, 
luteolin-diglucuronide, luteolin-glucopyranosyl-rhamnopyranoside, and 
eriodictyol-glucopyranosyl-rhamnopyranoside. The extracts of M. longifolia and 
M. piperita field plants, in vitro plants, callus tissues, and cell suspension 
cultures were profiled, and their polyphenol composition was compared in 
different tissues and quantified using ultra-performance column liquid 
chromatography (UPLC)/triple-quadrupole-MS in the selected-ion recording 
detection mode. Determination of desired compounds was based on calibration 
curves obtained for standards, which were previously isolated from M. longifolia 
aerial parts. The UPLC profiles revealed considerable differences in the 
synthesis of secondary metabolites among samples coming from field plants, in 
vitro plants, callus tissues, and cell suspension cultures. Plant tissues coming 
from field cultivation (for both M. piperita and M. longifolia) contained 
several phenolic compounds (flavonoids and phenolic acids), whereas plants from 
in vitro conditions, callus tissues, and suspension cultures contained only a 
few of them. Rosmarinic acid dominated in all of these samples. These results 
show that under in vitro conditions, the metabolism of phenolics undergoes a 
fundamental change.

PMID: 21391480 [Indexed for MEDLINE]