Profiling and simultaneous quantitative determination of oligostilbenes in Paeonia ostii seed shell from different geographical areas in China and their comparative evaluation

The efficient removal of congo red and ciprofloxacin by peony seeds shell activated carbon with ultra-high specific surface area

Preparation of high-performance activated carbon from agroforestry waste biomass can effectively improve the shortcomings of traditional biomass carbon performance. Using the waste biomass peony seeds shell (PSS) as the precursors in this study, high performance activated carbon was prepared by the KOH two-step activation method and used to remove congo red (CR) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) in water pollution. The obtained PSS-based activated carbons (PSACs) were characterized by SEM, EDS, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherm, FTIR, and XRD methods. The results showed that the activated carbon at 700 °C (PSAC-700) had an ultra-high specific surface area (2980.96 m²/g), excellent micropore volume (1.12 cm³/g), and abundant surface functional groups. The results of adsorption performance revealed that PSAC-700 exhibited excellent adsorption capacity for CR (q_max = 2003.2 mg/g) and CIP (q_max = 782.3 mg/g), which was superior to the carbon-based adsorbents reported reviously in the literature. Langmuir model could well describe the adsorption process of PSACs for CR and CIP, indicating that the pollutant molecules were uniformly adsorbed on the surface monolayer. The regeneration experiment suggested that after three cycles, the adsorption capacities of PSAC-700 for CR and CIP reached 1814 mg/g and 697 mg/g, respectively, with good repeatability. The preparation of PSAC-700 in this study has high adsorption capacity and strong application, which is an ideal material for wastewater purification adsorbent and has broad application prospect.

Trans-gnetin H isolated from the seeds of Paeonia species induces autophagy via inhibiting mTORC1 signalling through AMPK activation

Paeonia is a well-known species of ornamental plants, traditional Chinese medicines, and emerging oilseed crops. Apart from nutritional unsaturated fatty acids, the seeds of peonies are rich in stilbenes characterized by their wide-ranging health-promoting properties. Although the typical stilbene resveratrol has been widely reported for its multiple bioactivities, it remains uncertain whether the trimer of resveratrol trans-gnetin H has properties that regulate cancer cell viability, let alone the underlying mechanism. Autophagy regulated by trans-gnetin H was detected by western blotting, immunofluorescence, and quantitative real-time PCR. The effects of trans-gnetin H on apoptosis and proliferation were examined by flow cytometry, colony formation and Cell Counting Kit-8 assays. Trans-gnetin H significantly inhibits cancer cell viability through autophagy by suppressing the phosphorylation of TFEB and promoting its nuclear transport. Mechanistically, trans-gnetin H inhibits the activation and lysosome translocation of mTORC1 by inhibiting the activation of AMPK, indicating that AMPK is a checkpoint for mTORC1 inactivation induced by trans-gnetin H. Moreover, the binding of TSC2 to Rheb was markedly increased in response to trans-gnetin H stimulation. Similarly, trans-gnetin H inhibited the interaction between Raptor and RagC in an AMPK-dependent manner. More importantly, trans-gnetin H-mediated autophagy highly depends on the AMPK-mTORC1 axis. We propose a regulatory mechanism by which trans-gnetin H inhibits the activation of the mTORC1 pathway to control cell autophagy.

Ultrasonic-assisted extraction, fatty acids identification of the seeds oil and isolation of chemical constituent from oil residue of Belamcanda chinensis

Belamcanda chinensis is a common garden herb. The extraction technology of B. chinensis seed oil (BSO) was optimized by ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) method, the composition, relative content of main fatty acids and physicochemical properties of BSO were determined, and the isolation, identification and determination of chemical constituent in BSO residue (BSOR) were also investigated. The optimum process conditions of BSO by UAE were optimized as ultrasound time 14 min, extraction temperature 42℃, the ultrasound power 413 W and the liquid-solid ratio 27:1 mL/g. Under this condition, the extraction yield was 22.32 % with the high contents of linoleic acid and oleic acid in BSO. Ten compounds were isolated and identified from BSOR, and belamcandaoid P (9) was a new compound. The contents of the determined compounds were all at high level in B. chinensis seed. The study provided a certain scientific reference for the comprehensive development and utilization of B. chinensis seeds.

Ultrasonic-assisted extraction and adsorption separation: Large-scale preparation of trans-ε-Viniferin, suffruficosol B and trans-Gnetin H for the first time

In this study, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the large-scale extraction, enrichment, and separation of suffruticosol B (SB), trans-ε-Viniferin (TV), trans-gnetin H (TG) from oil tree peony seeds shell (PSS) was successfully constructed. The ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE), macroporous adsorption resin (MAR), and column chromatography (CC) were employed to extract, enrich and separate SB, TV and TG from PSS, and the conditions were optimized. The results implied that SB (1.6937 g), TV (0.5884 g) and TG (3.8786 g) with the purity of 99.67 %, 99.32 % and 98.54 %, respectively, were obtained after the extraction, enrichment and separation. The total yields of the SB, TV and TG were 0.61 mg/g, 0.02 mg/g and 6.64 mg/g with the total extraction rates at 70.55 %, 69.77 % and 78.36 %, respectively. This is the first report on the large-scale extraction, enrichment and separation of oligostilbenes. The SOP in this paper could produce high purity SB, TV and TG, and provide a new idea for PSS as a new oligostilbene resource. The study expands the new development and research field of PSS and provides theoretical support for the green utilization of oil tree peony.

A Novel Strategy for Unveiling Spatial Distribution Pattern of Gallotannins in Paeonia rockii and Paeonia ostii Based on LC–QTRAP–MS

Gallotannins (GTs) are a series of hydrolyzable tannins with multiple health-promoting effects. In this study, an integrated liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) strategy was developed for unveiling the spatial distribution pattern of GTs in the emerging oilseed crops Paeonia rockii and P. ostii. According to the fragmentation behavior of the representative GT (1,2,3,4,6-penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose, PGG), the diagnostic neutral loss (NL) of 170 Da was chosen for the non-targeted screening of GT precursors. Simultaneously, the tandem mass spectrometry spectrum (MS/MS) information was acquired through an enhanced product ion (EPI) scan. Nine major GTs were identified in tree peony. To quantify the targeted GTs in different tissues of tree peony, we established a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)–enhanced product ion (EPI)-based pseudo-targeted approach under the information-dependent acquisition (IDA) mode. The quantitative results show that the GT compounds were ubiquitous in tree peony plants with diverse structures. The typical GT PGG was mainly distributed in roots, leaves, and petals. This strategy can also be utilized for metabolite characterization and quantification in other substrates.

Comprehensive metabolite profile of multi-bioactive extract from tree peony (Paeonia ostii and Paeonia rockii) fruits based on MS/MS molecular networking

Tree peony seed, traditionally used for edible oil production, is rich in α-linolenic acid. However, little attention is given to the fruit by-products during seed oil production. The present work aimed to comprehensively investigate the phytochemical constituents and multiple biological activities of different parts of tree peony fruits harvested from Paeonia ostii and Paeonia rockii. 130 metabolites were rapidly identified through UPLC-Triple-TOF-MS on the basis of MS/MS molecular networking. Metabolite quantification was performed through the targeted approach of HPLC-ESI-QQQ-MS. Eight chemical markers were screened via principal component analysis (PCA) for distinguishing species and tissues. Interestingly, two dominant compounds, paeoniflorin and trans-resveratrol, are specially localized in seed kernel and seed coat, respectively. Unexpectedly, the extracts of fruit pod and seed coat showed significantly stronger antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-neuroinflammatory activities than seed kernel from both P. ostii and P. rockii. Our work demonstrated that tree peony fruit is promising natural source of bioactive components and provided its potential utilization in food and pharmaceutical industries.

Phenolic Profile and Antioxidant Activity of the Edible Tree Peony Flower and Underlying Mechanisms of Preventive Effect on H2O2-Induced Oxidative Damage in Caco-2 Cells

The entire phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities of different organs of the edible tree peony flowers (Fengdan Bai (FDB)) were analyzed. HPLC-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOF-MS/MS) analyses of individual phenolic compounds revealed that the petal and stamen contained higher levels of flavonoid glycosides than other organs (p < 0.05). Kaempferol-3,7-di-O-glucoside was the dominant flavonoid in these two organs, however, the calyx and ovary contained higher contents of gallic acid derivatives than other organs (p < 0.05). Hexa-O-galloyl-glucose was the dominant species in the calyx and ovary. At the same concentration of total phenolic extract (TPE), the stamen had the highest protection effect on Caco-2 cell oxidative damage induced by H2O2. The antioxidant effect was attributed to potent antioxidant capability; restored redox state due to the increased expression of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD); and improved barrier function of Caco-2 cell owing to increased zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), CLDN3 (Claudin 3), and occludin mRNA expression. As a new resource food, the edible tree peony flower is a potential functional food material and natural antioxidants resource.