• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.98 no.2
• /
• pp.142-147
• /
• 2009

Hyoscyamus species is sources of the hypnotic and sedative drugs hyoscyamine and scopolamine. Single cells of Hyoscyamus niger were dissociated from suspension cultures and adventitious roots obtained from single-cell clones which were cultured on B5 medium containing 3% (w/v) sucrose, 0.1 mg/L IBA and 0.4% (w/v) gelrite. H. niger adventitious root lines showed wide variation in tropane alkaloids production and growth. An effective selection of 200 root lines was made possible by the application of the 'Dragendorff's reagent' for qualitative detection of the alkaloids from root. A high correlation coefficient (r=0.9390) was observed between the values obtained with the two methods based on HPLC and Dragendorff's reagent analysis. Among the selected roots, the highest scopolamine content was 16.64 mg/g DW (Hn-59), which was 8.82-fold more productive than the lowest alkaloid producing line (Hn-25). Here, we established an efficient selection method on tropane alkaloids production and suggest that the Dragendorff's reagent is of great practical value in selection of invisible compounds.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.23-25
• /
• 1972

Preliminary investigations were carried out to isolate the constituents from the stems of genus Thalictrum. Methanol extracts of eight species from the genus were examined by thin layer chromatography. The author observed three different spots with Dragendorff's reagent in Thalictrum actaefolium, whereas none was detected in Thalictrum tuberiferum and Thalictrum simplex. Various fluorescent colors with different Rf values were detected in all species by UV ray, suggesting that each species may have different components.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.187-195
• /
• 2004

A number of plants from different geographical origins have been shown to possess antioxidant activity. Some of them have been developed as natural antioxidant formulations for food, cosmetic and other applications. Bangladeshi flora is a rich source of a range of plant species, many of which are medicinal plants, and have been used in the preparations of the Unani and Ayurvedic traditional medicines. There are no, or just a few, reports on any systematic screening of the extracts of Bangladeshi plants for free radical scavenging activity using DPPH assay available to date. As part of our on-going search for biological activity in Bangladeshi plants, Kadam (Anthocephalus chinensis), Goran (Ceriaps decandra), Swarnalata (Cuscuta reflexa), Gab (Diospyros peregrina), Sundari (Heritiera fomes), Dhundul (Xylocarpus granatum) and Possur (Xylocarpus mekongensis) have been selected for the assessment of their free radical scavenging activity, and studies on the contents of alkaloids, anthraqunones, flavonoids and tannins in these extracts. Most of these species have been used in traditional medicine in Bangladesh and other countries for the treatment of various illnesses ranging from common cold to cancer. All extracts, except the methanol extract of Cuscuta reflexa, displayed significant free radical scavenging activity in the DPPH assay $(RC_{50}$ values within the range of $2.75\;{\times}\;10^{-2}\;to\;4.7\;{\times}\;10^{-3}\;mg/mL)$. Among these extracts, the methanol extract of Xylocarpus granatum exhibited the most potent activity $(4.7\;{\times}\;10^{-3}\;mg/mL)$ and that of Cuscuta reflexa had the least activity $(1.64\;{\times}\;10^{-1}\;mg/mL)$. While none of these plants showed positive tests with Dragendorff's reagent, presence of low to moderate amounts of phenolic compounds, e.g. anthraquinones, flavonoids and tannins was evident in all of these plants, except for the methanolic extracts of C. reflexa and the barks of D. peregrina, which did not display any evidence for the presence of flavonoids and anthraquinones, respectively.