Abstract
The aerial parts of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, as the non-medicinal parts, are always discarded during harvesting, resulting in a huge waste of resources and environmental pressure. Due to the high flavonoid content and their antioxidant activities characteristics, the aerial parts of S. miltiorrhiza can be developed into natural antioxidants and used in foods. A high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method, using a two-phase solvent system composed of tert-butyl methyl ether/n-butanol/acetonitrile/water (3:1:1:20, v/v), was the first to successfully isolate five flavonoids from the aerial parts of S. miltiorrhiza in one attempt, and separately categorized as rutin (1), isoquercitrin (2), kaempferol-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside (3), kaempferol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (4) and apigenin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (5) after identification. The purities of these plant isolates were 97.3%, 99.5%, 92.8%, 98.1% and 98.7%, respectively. All the flavonoids were identified by HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR. Compounds 3 and 5 were firstly isolated from the plant of S. miltiorrhiza. Results from antioxidant assays showed that rutin (1) and isoquercitrin (2) had higher antioxidant capacities compared to L-ascorbic acid as the positive control.
Highlights
The dried roots and rhizomes of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (SM), designated as Danshen in China or Tanshen in Japan, are widely distributed in both China and Japan [1]
The dried roots and rhizomes of SM are used as a medicine, while the aerial parts of SM are generally discarded during harvesting
For High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) separation, it is crucial to choose a solvent system with moderate K values for the targetFor compounds
Summary
The dried roots and rhizomes of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (SM), designated as Danshen in China or Tanshen in Japan, are widely distributed in both China and Japan [1]. SM is often used alone or in combination with other herbs. Chinese medicine preparations, such as Fufang Danshen tablets, Compound Danshen dripping pills, Danshen injection and Xiangdan injection [2]. The dried roots and rhizomes of SM are used as a medicine, while the aerial parts of SM are generally discarded during harvesting. This has resulted in serious waste of resources and environmental pressures. It becomes necessary to study the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of the aerial parts of SM. They are proved to have some pharmacological activities, such as Molecules 2019, 24, 3448; doi:10.3390/molecules24193448 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules
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