Therapeutic orchids: traditional uses and recent advances--an overview.

The fresh or dried stems of many Dendrobium species are well known as one of the most expensive tonics in traditional Chinese medicine Documented as a “superior grade” herbal medicine in the ancient text “Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic”, Dendrobium has been used for thousands of years and is now a popular health food worldwide The main chemical components of Dendrobium are alkaloids, aromatic compounds, sesquiterpenoids and polysaccharides, with multiple biological activities, including immunomodulatory, neuroprotective and anti-tumor effects, etc Various qualitative and quantitative methods have been developed for the quality evaluation of Dendrobium In this review, the research progress since the 1930s relating to the chemistry, bioactivity and quality control of Dendrobium is summarized, existing problems and prospects are also discussed

Chemistry, bioactivity and quality control of Dendrobium, a commonly used tonic herb in traditional Chinese medicine

Background
Wild orchids are illegally harvested and traded in Nepal for use in local traditional medicine, horticulture, and international trade. This study aims to: 1) identify the diversity of species of wild orchids in trade in Nepal; 2) study the chain of commercialization from collector to client and/or export; 3) map traditional knowledge and medicinal use of orchids; and 4) integrate the collected data to propose a more sustainable approach to orchid conservation in Nepal.

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Collection and trade of wild-harvested orchids in Nepal

This review provides an informative and broad overview of orchid biotechnology, addressing several important aspects such as molecular systematics, modern breeding, in vitro morphogenesis, protoplast culture, flowering control, flower color, somaclonal variation, orchid mycorrhiza, pathogen resistance, virus diagnosis and production of virus-free plants, functional genomics, genetic transformation, conservation biotechnology and pharmaceutical biotechnology. This resource will provide valuable insight to researchers who are involved in orchid biology and floriculture, using biotechnology to advance research objectives. Producing an improved orchid through biotechnology for industrial purposes or to serve as a model plant for pure and applied sciences is well within reach and many of the current techniques and systems are already employed at the commercial production level.

The Application of Biotechnology to Orchids

Although phenanthrenes are considered to constitute a relatively small group of natural products, discovering new phenanthrene derivatives and evaluating their prospective biological activities have become of great interest to many research groups worldwide. Based on 160 references, this review covers the phytochemistry and pharmacology of 213 naturally occurring phenanthrenes that have been isolated between 2008 and 2016. More than 40% of the 450 currently known naturally occurring phenanthrenes were identified during this period. The family Orchidaceae is the most abundant source of these compounds, although several new plant families and genera have been involved in the search for phenanthrenes. The presence of certain substituent patterns may be restricted to specific families; vinyl-substituted phenanthrenes were reported only from Juncaceae plants, and prenylated derivatives occur mainly in Euphorbiaceae species. Therefore, these compounds also can serve as chemotaxonomic markers. Almost all of the ...

Phenanthrenes: A Promising Group of Plant Secondary Metabolites

Cytotoxic phenolics from Bulbophyllum odoratissimum

Two new biphenanthrenes with cytotoxic activity from Bulbophyllum odoratissimum

A new phenanthrene derivative 3,7-dihydroxy-2,4,6-trimethoxyphenanthrene was isolated from the all plant of Bulbophyllum odoratissimum, and its structure was elucidated by extensive spectral studies and chemical transformation. The compound displayed cytotoxicity against the growth of human leukemia cell lines K562 and HL-60, human lung adenocarcinoma A549, human hepatoma BEL-7402 and human stomach cancer cell lines SGC-7901 with IC 50 values of 14.23, 10.02, 3.42, 15.36 and 1.13 mg/ml respectively.

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3,7-Dihydroxy-2,4,6-trimethoxyphenanthrene, A New Phenanthrene from Bulbophyllum Odoratissimum

0009-3130/11/4702-0275 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 1) School of Life Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650031, China; 2) Department of Chemistry, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650092, China, fax: +86 871 5516061, e-mail: ygchen48@gmail.com. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 249–250, March–April, 2011. Original article submitted December 16, 2009. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Vol. 47, No. 2, May, 2011 [Russian original No. 2, March–April, 2011]

Hong Yu

Papers

Cytotoxic phenolics from Bulbophyllum odoratissimum

Two new biphenanthrenes with cytotoxic activity from Bulbophyllum odoratissimum

3,7-Dihydroxy-2,4,6-trimethoxyphenanthrene, A New Phenanthrene from Bulbophyllum Odoratissimum

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF Dendrobium thyrsiflorum

Chemical constituents from Dendrobium brymerianum Rchb. f