• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.267-272
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• 2012

Vitex trifolia L. is a full grown fruit of Vitex rotundifolia L. (Verbenaceae). It has been used for treating headache, dizziness, toothache and removal of fever as a traditional medicine in Korea. V. trifolia (500 g) were extracted three times with 80% aqueous MeOH at room temperature. The MeOH extract (38 g) was successively partitioned with n-hexane, EtOAc, n-BuOH and $H_2O$. Both n-hexane and EtOAc fractions showed more than 80% antifungal activity in vivo against several plant pathogens at 2000 ppm. Successive repeated silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, preparative TLC, and preparative HPLC of these fractions led to isolation of three compounds. Using mainly mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnatic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, their chemical structures were determined as agnuside(1), chrysosplenol B(2), and artemetin(3). Compound 2 was isolated for the first time from V. trifolia. Study on in vitro and in vivo antifungal activities of the isolated compounds is in progress.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.252-258
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• 2016

Vitex trifolia L. has been used traditionally to treat various illnesses, such as inflammation, headache, migraine, and gastrointestinal infections. We analyzed and evaluated the composition of V. trifolia leaf oil. Based on the results, we isolated abietatriene from V. trifolia leaf oil and investigated the effect of V. trifolia leaf oil and its active compound abietatriene on melanogenesis in B16F10 melanoma cells. They significantly decreased melanin contents and melanogenic factors, such as tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF dose-dependently in both protein and mRNA levels. Protein and mRNA expressions were determined by Western blot analysis and quantitative real time RT-PCR. Findings indicate that V. trifolia leaf oil and abietatriene reduce melanogenesis by regulating the expression of melanogenic factors. These results suggest that V. trifolia leaf oil and abietatriene could comprise a useful therapeutic agent for treating hyperpigmentation and used as effective skin-whitening agents.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.125-129
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• 2015

In this study, the antioxidant and anti-wrinkling effects of fraction from Vitex trifolia L. were investigated. Among the fractions, ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest antioxidant activities in 1-1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoine-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging and elastase inhibition with 76, 89, and 74%, respectively, at a concentration of $1,000{\mu}g/mL$. This fraction, at the concentration of $25{\mu}g/mL$, inhibited 70% fibroblast cell viability and 86% the matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-1. In addition, the results from Western blot assay showed that this fraction ($25{\mu}g/mL$) expressed the MMP-1 protein level by decreasing 50%. The findings suggest that the ethyl acetate fraction from V. trifolia has great potential as a cosmeceutical ingredient with antioxidant and anti-wrinkling effects.