Simultaneous Determination and Recognition Analysis of Coumarins in Angelica decursiva and Peucedanum praeruptorum by HPLC-DAD

Peucedani Radix is the root of Angelica decursiva Franchet et Savatier (=Peucedanum decursivum Maximowicz) or Peucedanum praeruptorum Dunn in several Asian countries. The coumarins contained in Peucedani Radix were quantitatively analyzed using HPLC-DAD to develop a simultaneous determination for the quality control of A. decursiva and P. praeruptorum. For quantitative analysis, four major coumarins contained in these medicinal plants were assessed. Nodakenin (1), nodakenetin (2), praeruptorin A (3), and praeruptorin B (4) were separated with a Phenomenex Luna C18 column (5 µm, 4.6 × 250 mm) under the gradient conditions using distilled water with 0.1% phosphoric acid and acetonitrile with 0.1% phosphoric acid as the mobile phase, at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and a detection wavelength of 330 nm. This method was fully validated for linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery, and limit of detection and quantification. As a result, A. decursiva and P. praeruptorum were clearly classified by the quantification of four major coumarins in extracts. Also, the pattern recognition analysis based on HPLC indicates that all of the samples were largely clustered into two groups. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish between A. decursiva and P. praeruptorum and contribute to quality control.

Bioactive Constituents from the Leaves of Zanthoxylum schinifolium

Activity-guided separation of the methylene chloride-soluble fraction of the leaves of Zanthoxylum schinifolium, resulted in the isolation of four coumarinoids (1 - 4), two triterpenoids (5, 6) and three fatty acid derivatives (7 - 9) as active principles. Their chemical structures were identified as collinin (1), 8-methoxyanisocoumarin (2), 7-(6'R-hydroxy-3',7'-dimethylocta-2',7'-dienyloxy)-coumarin (3), (E)-4-methly-6-(coumarin-7'-yloxy) hex-4-enal (4), lupeol (5), epi-lupeol (6), phytol (7), hexadec-3-enoic acid (8) and palmitic acid (9), on the basis of spectroscopic (1D, 2D and MS) data analyses and comparing with the data published in the literatures. Compounds 1 and 7 showed potent cytotoxicity against Jurkat T cells with IC50 values of 45.58 and 47.51 microM, respectively. The others showed moderate activity with IC50 values ranging around 80.58 to 85.83 microM, while the positive control, auraptene, possessed an IC50 value of 55.36 microM.