An Interdisciplinary Experiment for Undergraduates: A Study of the Antifeedant Activity of Columbin on the Silkworm

• Published in: Journal of chemical education Vol. 102; no. 2; pp. 787 - 795
• Main Authors: Liu, Ting, Liang, Yun, Zhu, Yan, Zhang, Lijun, Liao, Haibing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 11.02.2025; American Chemical Society
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Biological activity; Biology; Chemistry; College students; Educational activities; Educational attainment; Evaluation; Experiments; Food security; Identification; Interdisciplinary Approach; Interdisciplinary aspects; Laboratories; Laboratory Experiments; Natural products; Organic chemistry; Science education; Science Experiments; Science Laboratories; Silkworms; Skills; Students; Teacher Effectiveness; Teaching Experience; Teaching methods; Undergraduate Students; Undergraduate study; Organic Spectrum Analysis; Interdisciplinary Experiment; Silkworm Model; Undergraduate Chemistry; HPLC
• ISSN: 0021-9584; 1938-1328
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00999

Due to the time-intensive nature of isolation and purification, the low yield of pure compound, and the high costs associated with bioactivity evaluation in vitro and in vivo, comprehensive processes integrating natural product extraction, isolation, structure identification, and bioactivity evaluation in vivo are relatively rarely implemented in undergraduate chemistry laboratory curricula at present. Based on the teaching experience of the chromatography experimental course “Extraction and Determination of Columbin Content in Tinospora Radix” and the related research progress, we herein introduce a new interdisciplinary and comprehensive chemistry experiment, comprising a total of 20 lab sessions, each lasting 45 min. These experiments include the extraction of Columbin from Tinospora Radix, the identification of its chemical structure, and the evaluation of the antifeedant activity against the third instar silkworms. Students are actively engaged in the process of discovering active compounds from natural plants through this interdisciplinary experiment, providing them with hands-on laboratory experience in solving real-life food security challenges. The experiment adopts a multi-dimensional evaluation system including three dimensions of teacher evaluation, intragroup evaluation, and intergroup evaluation. This approach mitigates the limitation of relying on a single evaluation subject, ensures more objective evaluation results, and enhances the overall effectiveness of teaching activities. This experiment not only cultivates their comprehensive experimental “hard skills” in organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and chemical biology but also develops their “soft skills”, such as critical thinking, teamwork, and innovation. Finally, the implementation of the experiment is characterized by the easy availability of materials, low cost, and straightforward replication, making it well-suited for senior undergraduate students in chemistry-related majors across different educational levels.