Medicinal Plant Research 2024, Vol.14, No.5, 245-258 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/mpr 246 2 Phytochemical Composition of Eucommia ulmoides 2.1 Major classes of compounds identified Eucommia ulmoides, a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, contains a diverse array of bioactive compounds. The major classes of compounds identified in E. ulmoides include iridoids, lignans, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, phenolics, steroids, and terpenoids (Figure 1) (He et al., 2014; Zhu and Sun, 2018; Wang et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2022). Specifically, iridoid glycosides such as geniposidic acid, aucubin, and scyphiphin D are prominent (Niu et al., 2016). Additionally, lignans like pinoresinol-di-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and various flavonoid glycosides have been isolated. Figure 1 The main active chemical compounds inE. ulmoides (Adopted from Zhao et al., 2022) 2.2 Methods of extraction and analysis The extraction and analysis of compounds from E. ulmoides involve several advanced techniques. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is commonly used for both qualitative and quantitative analysis (Chai et al., 2012). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with diode-array detection (DAD) and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS/MS) is also employed to profile glycosides and other compounds. Supercritical CO2 fluid extraction is another method used to isolate phytosterols and iridoids fromE. ulmoides seeds (Tang et al., 2021). 2.3 Quantitative and qualitative analysis of compounds Quantitative and qualitative analyses of E. ulmoides compounds have revealed significant variations depending on the plant part and processing method. For instance, UPLC-UV has been used to quantify ten compounds, including iridoids, phenylpropanoids, and flavonoids, in different medicinal parts of E. ulmoides. The seed meal of E. ulmoides has been analyzed to identify and quantify six iridoid compounds, revealing their stability under various conditions (Figure 2) (Ma et al., 2022). Additionally, HPLC-MS/MS has been validated for pharmacokinetic studies of specific compounds like pinoresinol-di-β-D-glucopyranoside in rat plasma (Wang et al., 2012). Figure 2 Illustration of stability degree for the tested compounds under the conditions of different temperatures and pH levels (Adopted from Ma et al., 2022) Image caption: P: Degradation degree; GPA: geniposidic acid (monomer); SD: scyphiphin D (dimer); UA: ulmoidoside A (trimer); UB: ulmoidoside B (trimer); UC: ulmoidoside C (tetramer); UD: ulmoidoside D (tetramer) (Adapted from Ma et al., 2022)
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