[Comparative study of four alkaloids contents and antitussive activities of Stemona tuberosa from different habitats of Guangxi Province].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the contents of four alkaloids and antitussive activities of Stemona tuberosa from different habitats of Guangxi Province. METHODS: The HPLC separation was performed on a Merck Purospher STAR RP18 (250 mm x 4. 6 mm, 5 µm) column by gradient elution using 0. 05% ammonia-acetonitrile as the mobile phase. The flow rate was 1. 0 mL/min, the dectection wave-length was set at 210 nm,and the column temperature was 40 °C. The antitussive potency of total alkaloids of Stemonae Radix from different habitats was evaluated on guinea pigs with citric acid aerosol to induce cough. RESULTS: The range of recoveries of this mehtod was 98. 24% ~ 101. 21%, with all the constituents showing good linearity(the correlation coefficents above 0. 999). The major chemotype of Stemonae Radix in Guangxi was stemoninine, following by tuberostemonine and croomine, and finally neotuberostemonine. The antitussive activitiy of Stemona tuberosa was in a concentration-dependent manner. CONCLUSION: Stemonae Radix from Dongxing, Fangcheng can reduce cough times and prolong cough incubation period, and thus Dongxing, Fangcheng is the best habitat in Guangxi in the present experiments.

Characterization of flavonoids in the ethomedicine Fordiae Cauliflorae Radix and its adulterant Millettiae Pulchrae Radix by HPLC-DAD-ESI-IT-TOF-MSn.

Fordiae Cauliflorae Radix (FC, the root of Fordia cauliflora Hemsl) and Millettiae Pulchrae Radix [MP, the root of Millettia pulchra (Benth.) Kurz var. laxior (Dunn) Z. Wei], which go under the same local name of "Daluosan", have long been used in Southern China for the treatment of stroke, paralysis, dementia in children, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases. The same local name and similar functions always confuse users. To further utilize these two ethnodrugs and identify them unambiguously, an HPLC-DAD-ESI-IT-TOF-MSn method was developed to separate and characterize the flavonoids in FC and MP. A total of 41 flavonoids were detected, of which six compounds were identified by comparing their retention time and MS data with those of the reference standards, and the others were tentatively identified based on their tandem mass spectrometry data obtained in the positive ion detection mode. Nineteen of these characterized compounds are reported from these two plants for the first time.