The classical drug discovery approach to defining bioactive constituents of botanicals

• Published in: Fitoterapia Vol. 82; no. 1; pp. 71 - 79
• Main Authors: Kinghorn, A. Douglas, Chai, Hee-byung, Sung, Chung Ki, Keller, William J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adansonia - chemistry; Adansonia digitata; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - isolation & purification; Antioxidants - isolation & purification; Arecaceae - chemistry; Açai ( Euterpe oleracea); Baobab ( Adansonia digitata); bioactive properties; Biological and medical sciences; Biologically active constituents; chemoprevention; dietary supplements; Drug Discovery - methods; drugs; Euterpe oleracea; fractionation; Garcinia - chemistry; Garcinia mangostana; General pharmacology; Glycyrrhiza - chemistry; Glycyrrhiza glabra; Humans; ingredients; licorice; Licorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra); Magnoliopsida - chemistry; Mangosteen ( Garcinia mangostana); Medical sciences; Morinda - chemistry; Morinda citrifolia; Noni ( Morinda citrifolia); Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phytotherapy; Plant Preparations - chemistry; Plant Preparations - pharmacology; Plants, Medicinal - chemistry; Asia; Açai ( Euterpe oleracea); Mangosteen ( Garcinia mangostana); Licorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra); Biologically active constituents; Baobab ( Adansonia digitata); Noni ( Morinda citrifolia); Baobab (Adansonia digitata); Monocotyledones; Guttiferae; Açai (Euterpe oleracea); Research and development; Palmito; Medicinal plant; Folk medicine; Bombacaceae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Rubiaceae; Noni (Morinda citrifolia); Fruit tree; Food; Below ground plant part; Drug; Root; Pharmacognosy; Oriental medicine; Licorice; Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra); Multipurpose tree; Leguminosae; Vegetable crop; Fruit crop; Glycyrrhiza glabra; Mangosteen; Plant origin; Flavoring crop; Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana); Spermatophyta; Palmae
• ISSN: 0367-326X; 1873-6971
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2010.08.015

In this review, several recently identified biologically active principles of selected botanical dietary supplement ingredients are described, and were isolated using classical phytochemical chromatographic methods, with various spectroscopic procedures used for their isolation and structure elucidation. A central component of such an approach is “activity-guided fractionation” to monitor the compound purification process. In vitro assays germane to cancer chemoprevention were used to facilitate the work performed. Bioactive compounds, including several new substances, were characterized from açai ( Euterpe oleracea), baobab ( Adansonia digitata), licorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra), mangosteen ( Garcinia mangostana), and noni ( Morinda citrifolia). Many of these compounds exhibited quite potent biological activity, but tended to be present in their plant of origin only at low concentration levels. [Display omitted]