Anatomical and Chemical Characterization of Ulmus Species from South Korea.

Woo-Sung Park,Hye-Jin Kim,Dong-Min Kang,Yong-Ung Kim,Kyung-Ah Koo,Atif Ali Khan Khalil,Xiang-Lan Piao,Ji-Min Kwon,Mi-Jeong Ahn,Kazi-Marjahan Akter

doi:10.3390/plants10122617

Abstract

Ulmus species (Ulmaceae) are large deciduous trees distributed throughout Korea. Although their root and stem bark have been used to treat gastrointestinal diseases and wounds in folk medicine, commercial products are consumed without any standardization. Therefore, we examined anatomical and chemical differences among five Ulmus species in South Korea. Transverse sections of leaf, stem, and root barks were examined under a microscope to elucidate anatomical differences. Stem and root bark exhibited characteristic medullary ray and secretary canal size. Leaf surface, petiole, and midrib exhibited characteristic inner morphologies including stomatal size, parenchyma, and epidermal cell diameter, as well as ratio of vascular bundle thickness to diameter among the samples. Orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis of anatomical data efficiently differentiated the five species. To evaluate chemical differences among the five species, we quantified (-)-catechin, (-)-catechin-7-O-β-D-apiofuranoside, (-)-catechin-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, (-)-catechin-7-O-β-D-xylopyranoside, (-)-catechin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and (-)-catechin-5-O-β-D-apiofuranoside using high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector. (-)-Catechin-7-O-β-D-apiofuranoside content was the highest among all compounds in all species, and (-)-catechin-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside content was characteristically the highest in Ulmus parvifolia among the five species. Overall, the Ulmus species tested was able to be clearly distinguished on the basis of anatomy and chemical composition, which may be used as scientific criteria for appropriate identification and standard establishment for commercialization of these species

Highlights

Ulmus genus of the Ulmaceae family is represented by deciduous arboreous trees with approximately 20 species distributed over the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere [1]
(-)-catechin-7O-β-D-apiofuranoside, (-)-catechin, procyanidin B3, phloridzin, fraxetin, isovanillic acid, and vanillic acid have been isolated from the root bark of U. parvifolia, and sterol, sterolglucoside, catechin-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, rutin, and isoquercetin have been isolated from its stem bark and leaves [17,18]
The adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces of the five Ulmus species were subjected to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Figure 1a,b)

Summary

Introduction

Ulmus genus (elm) of the Ulmaceae family is represented by deciduous arboreous trees with approximately 20 species distributed over the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere [1]. The botanical origin of “Yugeunpi” and “Yubaekpi” used as folk medicine is unclear, and it is not known that the root or stem bark of which species has the most potent biological activity. The root bark extract of U. davidiana var. The stem and root bark extracts of U. parvifolia possess anti-allergic activity [10]. The extract of and compounds isolated from U. macrocarpa root bark exhibit anti-inflammatory activity [11,12,13]. Several secondary metabolites such as catechin, catechin-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, catechin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, lyoniside, (-)-lyoniresinol, (+)-lyoniresinol nudiposide, triterpenes, flavanones, and phenolics have been reported in the root bark of U. davidiana var. Flavonoids and coumarins have been isolated from the root bark of U. macrocarpa [19,20]

Methods

Results

Conclusion