Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection

1. J Nat Prod. 2024 Nov 6. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c00847. Online ahead of 
print.

Combining the Strengths of MS and NMR in Biochemometrics: A Case Study on 
Buddleja officinalis.

Wasilewicz A(1), Areesanan A(2), Kirchweger B(1)(3), Nicolay S(2), Waltenberger 
E(1), Beniddir MA(4), Gründemann C(2), Rollinger JM(1), Grienke U(1).

Author information:
(1)Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of 
Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, 1090 Vienna, 
Austria.
(2)Translational Complementary Medicine, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 
University of Basel, Campus Rosental, Mattenstrasse 22, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
(3)Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmacy, 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Butenandtstraße 5-13, 81377 Munich, 
Germany.
(4)Équipe Chimie des Substances Naturelles, BioCIS, CNRS, Université 
Paris-Saclay, 17 Avenue des Sciences, 91400 Orsay, France.

Biochemometrics has emerged as promising strategy for the targeted 
identification of bioactive constituents from natural sources. It is based on 
the correlation of bioactivity data with chemical data to reveal constituents 
contributing to activity. Providing complementary data and structural 
information, MS- and NMR-based biochemometric approaches have both been 
separately applied in the past. The herein presented study is dedicated to the 
evaluation of a combined MS- and NMR-based biochemometric workflow for the 
unambiguous identification of bioactives. As an example, a flower extract of 
Buddleja officinalis Maxim. was selected to unravel bioactive constituents in 
the context of dry eye disease pathology. While NMR-based biochemometrics relies 
on heterocovariance analysis (HetCA) of 1H NMR spectra using the previously 
established ELINA approach, a biochemometric molecular network was generated for 
the MS-based approach. Both analyses were performed in parallel and were 
ultimately combined to increase their power to identify the bioactive 
constituents from the complex mixture. As a result, phenylethanoid glycosides 
and triterpene saponins were discovered as main contributors for the antioxidant 
and cytotoxic effects of the extract. This article illustrates the advantages, 
opportunities, and limitations of MS and NMR in the context of biochemometrics.

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c00847
PMID: 39503999


2. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2024 Sep;37(5):1177-1187.

Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening and antioxidant potential 
of Bulbine inflata (Asphodelaceae).

Oyerinde RO(1), Risenga IM(1).

Author information:
(1)School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the 
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Bulbine inflata is one of the species in the genus Bulbine that are yet to be 
documented for potential medicinal uses. Hence, we carried out its preliminary 
phytochemical profiling and investigated its antioxidant potential. The leaves 
were dried using air- and freeze-drying techniques and were extracted by water, 
methanol, ethyl acetate and hexane. Various common colour tests were used for 
the presence of phytochemicals. Some of the phytochemicals were further 
quantified. Phosphomolybdate, 2, 2 diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl, hydrogen peroxide 
and metal chelating assays were used to assess the antioxidant potential of B. 
inflata. Tannin, flavonoids, phenols, glycosides, steroids, coumarins, quinones, 
saponins and terpenoids were detected phytochemicals in B. inflata leaves. The 
highest total phenolic, flavonoid and tannin contents, as well as total 
antioxidant capacity, were recorded for water extract. B. inflata showed 
moderate to high antioxidant activities against DPPH, H2O2 and metal chelating. 
Freeze-dried samples presented with higher results than air-dried samples in 
most assays. The results showed the potential of B. inflata for medicinal uses 
and could expand the ethnomedicinal resources in the communities where it is 
prevalent and beyond.

PMID: 39495859 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


3. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Oct 21;654(Pt B):1031-1039. doi: 
10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.108. Online ahead of print.

Promoting the adsorption of saponins at the hydrophilic solid-aqueous solution 
interface by the coadsorption with cationic surfactants.

Tucker IM(1), Burley A(1), Petkova RE(1), Hosking SL(1), Webster JRP(2), Li 
PX(2), Ma K(2), Penfold J(3), Thomas RK(4).

Author information:
(1)Unilever Research and Development, Port Sunlight Laboratory, Quarry Road 
East, Bebington, Wirral, UK.
(2)ISIS Facility, STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, Didcot, 
OXON, UK.
(3)ISIS Facility, STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, Didcot, 
OXON, UK; Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford University, 
South Parks Road, Oxford, UK. Electronic address: jeff.penfold@stfc.ac.uk.
(4)Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, Oxford University, South Parks 
Road, Oxford, UK.

HYPOTHESIS: Saponins are highly surface active glycosides, and are extensively 
used to stabilise emulsions and foams in beverages, foods, and cosmetics. 
Derived from a variety of plant species these naturally occurring biosurfactants 
have wider potential for inclusion in many low carbon and or sustainably sourced 
products. Although their adsorption at the air-solution and liquid-liquid 
interfaces has been extensively studied, the nature of their adsorption at solid 
surfaces is much less clear. The aim of this study was to establish the criteria 
for and nature of the adsorption of saponins at both hydrophilic and hydrophobic 
solid surfaces.
EXPERIMENTS: Adsorption at the hydrophilic and hydrophobic solid surfaces was 
investigated using neutron reflectivity. Measurements were made for the saponins 
escin, quillaja and glycyrrhizic acid. At the hydrophilic surface measurements 
were also made for escin / cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide, C16TAB, mixtures; 
using deuterium labelling to determine the surface structure and composition.
FINDINGS: At a range of solution concentrations, from below to well in excess of 
the critical micelle concentration, cmc, there was no saponin adsorption evident 
at either the hydrophilic or hydrophobic surface. This implies an inherent 
incompatibility between the surface OH- groups at the hydrophilic surface and 
the saponin sugar groups, and a reluctance for the hydrophobic triterpenoid 
group of the saponin to interact with the octadecyltrichlorosilane, OTS, 
hydrophobic solid surface. Above a critical composition or concentration escin / 
C16TAB mixtures adsorb at the hydrophilic solid surface; with a surface 
composition which is dominated by the escin, and a structure which reflects the 
disparity in the molecular arrangement of the two surfactant components. The 
results provide an important insight into how cooperative adsorption can be 
utilised to promote adsorption of saponins at the solid- solution interface.

Crown Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.10.108
PMID: 39491061

Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors 
declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal 
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this 
paper.


4. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Oct 21;25(20):11331. doi: 10.3390/ijms252011331.

A Novel Biosynthetic Strategy for Ginsenoside Ro: Construction of a 
Metabolically Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae Strain Using a Newly 
Identified UGAT Gene from Panax ginseng as the Key Enzyme Gene and Optimization 
of Fermentation Conditions.

Yu X(1), Yu J(1), Wang D(1), Liu S(1), Wang K(1)(2), Zhao M(1)(2), Chen P(1)(2), 
Wang Y(3), Wang Y(1)(2), Zhang M(1)(2).

Author information:
(1)College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, 
China.
(2)Jilin Engineering Research Center Ginseng Genetic Resources Development and 
Utilization, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
(3)College of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, 
Changchun 130118, China.

Ginsenoside Ro, as one of the few oleanane-type ginsenosides, is well known for 
its unique molecular structure and biological activities. Currently, research on 
the biosynthesis of ginsenoside Ro is still in its early stages. Therefore, the 
establishment of a new ginsenoside Ro cell factory is of great significance for 
the in-depth development and utilization of genes related to ginsenoside Ro 
synthesis, as well as for the exploration of pathways to obtain ginsenoside Ro. 
In this study, we cloned endogenous constitutive promoters, terminators, and 
other genetic elements from S. cerevisiae BY4741. These elements were then 
sequentially assembled with the uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid transferase 
gene identified in our previously study (PgUGAT252645) and several other 
reported key enzyme genes, to construct DNA fragments used for integration into 
the genome of S. cerevisiae BY4741. By sequentially transferring these DNA 
fragments into chemically competent cells of engineering strains and conducting 
screening and target product detection, we successfully constructed an 
engineered S. cerevisiae strain (BY-Ro) for ginsenoside Ro biosynthesis using S. 
cerevisiae BY4741 as the host cell. Strain BY-Ro produced 253.32 μg/L of 
ginsenoside Ro under optimal fermentation conditions. According to subsequent 
measurements and calculations, this equates to 0.033 mg/g DCW, corresponding to 
approximately 31% of the ginsenoside Ro content found in plant samples. This 
study not only included a deeper investigation into the function of PgUGAT252645 
but also provides a novel engineering platform for ginsenoside Ro biosynthesis.

DOI: 10.3390/ijms252011331
PMCID: PMC11509030
PMID: 39457113 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.


5. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Oct 12;25(20):10977. doi: 10.3390/ijms252010977.

Triterpenoid Saponins and Flavonoid Glycosides from the Flower of Camellia 
flavida and Their Cytotoxic and α-Glycosidase Inhibitory Activities.

Ma S(1), Wu Y(1), Min H(1), Ge L(1), Yang K(1).

Author information:
(1)Medical School of Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.

Camellia flavida var. flavida, commonly known as "Jinhua Tea", has its flowers 
and leaves traditionally utilized as tea and functional food sources. However, 
there is limited knowledge about its bioactive components and their biological 
activities. This study isolated ten previously unidentified glycoside compounds 
from the flowers of Camellia flavida, including three oleanane-type triterpenoid 
saponins (compounds 1-3) and seven flavonoid glycosides (compounds 4-10), 
collectively named flavidosides A-J. This study assessed the cytotoxicity of 
these compounds against a panel of human cancer cell lines and their 
α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Notably, flavidoside C showed significant 
cytotoxicity against BEL-7402 and MCF-7 cell lines, with IC50 values of 4.94 ± 
0.41 and 1.65 ± 0.39 μM, respectively. Flavidoside H exhibited potent 
α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, with an IC50 value of 1.17 ± 0.30 mM. These 
findings underscore the potential of Camellia flavida in the development of 
functional foods.

DOI: 10.3390/ijms252010977
PMCID: PMC11506924
PMID: 39456760 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.