Sophora alopecuroides L.: An ethnopharmacological, phytochemical, and pharmacological review

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Sophora alopecuroides L., which is called Kudouzi in China, is a medicinal plant distributed in Western and Central Asia, especially in China, and has been used for decades to treat fever, bacterial infection, heart disease, rheumatism, and gastrointestinal diseases.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

This review aims to provide up-to-date information on S. alopecuroides, including its botanical characterization, medicinal resources, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological research, and toxicology, in exploring future therapeutic and scientific potentials.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The information related to this article was systematically collected from the scientific literature databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Science Direct, Springer, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, published books, PhD and MS dissertations, and other web sources, such as the official website of Flora of China and Yao Zhi website (https://db.yaozh.com/).

RESULTS

A total of 128 compounds, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, and polysaccharides, were isolated from S. alopecuroides. Among these compounds, the effects of alkaloids, such as matrine and oxymatrine, were extensively studied and developed into new drugs. S. alopecuroides and its active components had a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as anticancer, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, analgesic, and neuroprotective functions, as well as protective properties against pulmonary fibrosis and cardiac fibroblast proliferation.

CONCLUSIONS

As an important traditional Chinese medicine, modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that S. alopecuroides has prominent bioactivities, especially on gynecological inflammation and hepatitis B, and anticancer activities. These activities provide prospects for novel drug development for cancer and some chronic diseases. Nevertheless, the comprehensive evaluation, quality control, understanding of the multitarget network pharmacology, long-term in vivo toxicity, and clinical efficacy of S. alopecuroides require further detailed research.

Phenolic constituents in commercial aqueous Quillaja (Quillaja saponaria Molina) wood extracts

Phenolic compounds in aqueous, saponin-rich soapbark tree (Quillaja saponaria Molina) extracts were qualitatively and quantitatively characterized by HPLC-PDA-MS(n) and NMR spectroscopy. (+)-Piscidic acid represented the major constituent (75-87% (w/w) of total phenolics) in all examined extracts (n = 4), ranging from 22.1 ± 0.1 to 34.0 ± 0.2 mg/g of dry matter (DM). Derivatives of p-coumaric acid were present at concentrations from 2.2 to 9.3 mg/g of DM (8.1-20.4% of total phenolics), whereas other phenolic constituents such as glucosyringic acid and vanillic acid derivatives accounted for less than 7% of total phenolics. Generally, all Quillaja extracts showed a highly similar but unique pattern, potentially being useful to authenticate Quillaja extracts in foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical formulations. Furthermore, the desired antioxidant activity as well as undesired browning reactions in the final product might also be explained by these phenolic compounds, which were identified for the first time in Q. saponaria extracts.