Polyphenolic compounds in the fruits of Egyptian medicinal plants (Terminalia bellerica, Terminalia chebula and Terminalia horrida): characterization, quantitation and determination of antioxidant capacities.

Medicinal plants are part and parcel of human society to combat diseases from the dawn of civilization. Terminalia chebula Retz. (Fam. Combretaceae), is called the ‘King of Medicine’ in Tibet and is always listed at the top of the list of ‘Ayurvedic Materia Medica’ because of its extraordinary power of healing. The whole plant possesses high medicinal value and traditionally used for the treatment of various ailments for human beings. Some of the folklore people used this plant in the treatment of asthma, sore throat, vomiting, hiccough, diarrhea, dysentery, bleeding piles, ulcers, gout, heart and bladder diseases. The plant has been demonstrated to possess multiple pharmacological and medicinal activities, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antiproliferative, radioprotective, cardioprotective, antiarthritic, anticaries, gastrointestinal motility and wound healing activity. But no systematic updated information on the therapeutic effectiveness of Terminalia chebula, a popular herbal remedy in India and South-East Asia has so far been reported. This review highlights an updated information particularly on the phytochemistry and various pharmacological and medicinal properties of Terminalia chebula Retz. and some of its isolated compounds, along with their safety evaluation. This may provide incentive for proper evaluation of the plant as medicinal agent against the human diseases and also to bridge the lacunae in the existing literature and future scope which may offer immense opportunity for researchers engaged in validation of the traditional claims and development of safe and effective botanical medicine.

The development of Terminalia chebula Retz. (Combretaceae) in clinical research

This review covers the application of capillary electromigration methods to analyze foods and food components, including amino acids, biogenic amines, peptides, proteins, DNAs, carbohydrates, phenols, polyphenols, pigments, toxins, pesticides, vitamins, additives, small organic and inorganic ions, chiral compounds, and other compounds in foods, as well as those applications of CE for monitoring food interactions and food processing. The use of microchips as well as other foreseen trends in food analysis by CE are discussed. Papers that were published during the period June 2005-March 2007 are included following the previous review by Cifuentes (Electrophoresis 2006, 27, 283-303).

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Recent advances in the application of capillary electromigration methods for food analysis

A hepatoprotective compound was isolated from the ethanolic extract of the fruits of Terminalia chebula Retz. by consecutive solvent partitioning, followed by silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographies. The purified compound was identified as a mixture of chebulic acid and its minor isomer, neochebulic acid, with a ratio of 2:1 by spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR and MS spectroscopy. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the protection of rat hepatocytes against oxidative toxicity by chebulic acid obtained from T. chebula Retz. This compound exhibited in vitro a free radical-scavenging activity and ferric-reducing antioxidant activity. Also, the specific ESR spectrum for the •OOH radical signals consisting of three-line ESR spectra was within the field of 0.27 mT, whereas 2.5 and 0.25 mg/ml of chebulic acid significantly reduced the signal intensity of the ESR spectra to 0.06 mT and 0.11 mT, respectively. Using isolated rat hepatocyte experiment, we demonstrated that the treatment of hepatocytes with chebulic acid significantly reduced the tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced cell cytotoxicity, intracellular reactive oxygen species level, and the ratio of GSSH, oxidized form of glutathione (GSH) to the over total GSH (GSH + GSSG) (4.42%) as compared to that with t-BHP alone (8.33%).

Isolation of chebulic acid from Terminalia chebula Retz. and its antioxidant effect in isolated rat hepatocytes.

Background
Burgeoning antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa has necessitated the development of anti pathogenic agents that can quench acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) mediated QS with least risk of resistance. This study explores the anti quorum sensing potential of T. chebula Retz. and identification of probable compounds(s) showing anti QS activity and the mechanism of attenuation of P. aeruginosa PAO1 virulence factors.

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Ellagic acid derivatives from Terminalia chebula Retz. downregulate the expression of quorum sensing genes to attenuate Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 virulence.

A RP-HPLC method for determining fourteen components (gallic acid, chebulic acid, 1,6-di-O-galloyl-D-glucose, punicalagin, 3,4,6-tri-O-galloyl-D-glucose, casuarinin, chebulanin, corilagin, neochebulinic acid, terchebulin, ellagic acid, chebulagic acid, chebulinic acid, and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-D-glucose) in the fruit of Terminalia chebula Retz. is described. The separation was achieved within 80 min using a binary gradient with mobile phases consisting of a pH 2.7 phosphoric acid solution and an 80% CH3CN solution. Capillary electrophoretic analyses were also attempted, and it was found that CZE (25 mM Na2B4O7, 5 mM NaH2PO4, pH 7.0) was an efficient method for the separation of gallotannins, while an MEKC method (25 mM Na2B4O7, 5 mM NaH2PO4, 20 mM SDS, pH 7.0, and 10% acetonitrile) provided a better separation for most of the tannins examined. The HPLC and CE methods developed were both successfully applied to the assay of tannins in commercial samples of Chebulae Fructus.

Determination of hydrolyzable tannins in the fruit of Terminalia chebula Retz. by high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis.

Twenty-eight commercial samples of Fructus Chebulae were collected from local herbal markets in Taiwan and were determined to have been derived from Terminalia chebula Retz. and Terminalia chebula Retz. var. parviflora Thwaites, which differ markedly in external appearance. Ten tannin-related constituents [gallic acid (1), chebulic acid (2), punicalagin (4), chebulanin (7), corilagin (8), neochebulinic acid (9), ellagic acid (11), chebulagic acid (12), chebulinic acid (13) and 1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (14)] were identified and quantified by HPLC. Samples derived from T. chebula. var. parviflora, which are typically round-shaped, generally contained higher concentrations of 13 and 14 but lower levels of 12 compared with those from T. chebula, which are largely oval-shaped. The ratio of the concentration of 14 to that of 4 may serve as a potential parameter for differentiating samples from the two origins (T. chebula, ratio 0.6 ± 0.3; T. chebula. var. parviflora, ratio 3.4 ± 2.2). Levels of the three major bioactive constituents 12–14 were found to provide good references for the quality assessment of Fructus Chebulae. The ratio of the concentration of 12 to that of 14 may offer a guideline for determining quality as well as origin of the drug (lower-grade T. chebula, ratio 12.4 ± 6.0; medium-grade T. chebula, ratio 8.8 ± 7.9; higher-grade T. chebula, ratio 3.2 ± 0.8; T. chebula var. parviflora, ratio 1.6 ± 0.7). Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lih-Jeng Juang

Papers

Determination of hydrolyzable tannins in the fruit of Terminalia chebula Retz. by high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis.

Chemical identification of the sources of commercial Fructus Chebulae.