Isolation and identification of terpenoids from chicory roots and their inhibitory activities against yeast α-glucosidase

• Published in: European food research & technology Vol. 243; no. 6; pp. 1009 - 1017
• Main Authors: Fan, Hang, Chen, Jian, Lv, Han, Ao, Xiancan, Wu, Yuexian, Ren, Bingru, Li, Weilin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; German
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2017
• Subjects: Agriculture; Analytical Chemistry; Asteraceae; Biotechnology; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cichorium intybus; Food Science; Forestry; Original Paper; Chicory; Sesquiterpene; L. var; α-Glucosidase inhibition; L.
• ISSN: 1438-2377; 1438-2385
• DOI: 10.1007/s00217-016-2810-1

Chicory ( Cichorium intybus L.var. sativum L., Asteraceae) is a multipurpose plant cultivated as vegetable and coffee substitute in Europe and North America, also as folk medicine in China. The extracts from chicory roots showed significant effect on inhibition against α-glucosidase. By a bioassay-guided approach, the chemical fraction with high α-glucosidase inhibition was found and its chemical profile was tentatively described by UPLC-Q-TOF/MS to include 28 compounds. Further chemical isolation yielded six compounds, their chemical structures were elucidated as 11β-13-dihydrolactucin ( 1 ), lactucin ( 2 ), 8-deoxylactucin ( 3 ), jacquinelin ( 4 ), 11β,13-dihydrolactucopicrin ( 5 ) and lactucopicrin ( 6 ), and among them, the compound 4 showed the strongest inhibitory activity against yeast α-glucosidase with IC 50 value of 4.180 μM. The present results suggest that chicory roots can eventually exhibit anti-diabetic effect and the sesquiterpenes may be responsible for the activity.