Polyphenols are a large family of naturally occurring phenols. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of which have been used historically as dyes and for tanning garments.
Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants. Phytochemists strive to describe the structures of the large number of secondary metabolites found in plants, the functions of these compounds in human and plant biology, and the biosynthesis of these compounds. Plants synthesize phytochemicals for many reasons, including to protect themselves against insect attacks and plant diseases. The compounds found in plants are of many kinds, but most can be grouped into four major biosynthetic classes: alkaloids, phenylpropanoids, polyketides, and terpenoids.
Angelica sinensis, commonly known as dong quai or female ginseng, is a herb belonging to the family Apiaceae, indigenous to China. A. sinensis grows in cool high altitude mountains in East Asia. The yellowish brown root of the plant is harvested in the fall and used in traditional Chinese medicine. There is no scientific evidence that A. sinensis is effective for any medicinal purpose.
Scutellaria barbata, the barbed skullcap, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to Asia.
Scutellaria is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. They are known commonly as skullcaps. The generic name is derived from the Latin scutella, meaning "a small dish, tray or platter", or "little dish", referring to the shape of the calyx. The common name alludes to the resemblance of the same structure to "miniature medieval helmets". The genus has a subcosmopolitan distribution, with species occurring nearly worldwide, mainly in temperate regions.
Gomphrena globosa, commonly known as globe amaranth, is an edible plant from the family Amaranthaceae. The round-shaped flower inflorescences are a visually dominant feature and cultivars have been propagated to exhibit shades of magenta, purple, red, orange, white, pink, and lilac. Within the flowerheads, the true flowers are small and inconspicuous.
Scutellaria baicalensis, with the common name Baikal skullcap or Chinese skullcap, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae.
Teucrium chamaedrys, the wall germander, is a species of plant native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe and North Africa, and the Middle East as far as Iran. It is used as an ornamental.
Scutellaria galericulata, the common skullcap, marsh skullcap or hooded skullcap, is a hardy perennial herb native to northern areas of the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe, Asia, and almost all of Canada. It is a member of the mint family. The form is upright and is usually 20-45 centimeters in height, sometimes reaching up to 80 cm. It is a wetland-loving species and grows along fens and shorelines. The blue flowers are 1 to 2 centimeters long. The flowers are in pairs and are all on the same side of the stem. The flowers do not appear at the top of the stem.
Clerodane diterpenes, sometimes referred to as clerodane diterpenoids, are a large group of secondary metabolites that have been isolated from several hundreds of different plant species, as well as fungi, bacteria and marine sponges. They are bicyclic terpenes that contain 20 carbons and a decalin core.
As baicalin is a flavone glycoside, it is a flavonoid. It is the glucuronide of baicalein.
Baicalein (5,6,7-trihydroxyflavone) is a flavone, a type of flavonoid, originally isolated from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis and Scutellaria lateriflora. It is also a constituent of Oroxylum indicum and thyme. It is the aglycone of baicalin.
Oroxylin A is an O-methylated flavone, a chemical compound that can be found in the medicinal plants Scutellaria baicalensis and Scutellaria lateriflora, and the Oroxylum indicum tree. It has demonstrated activity as a dopamine reuptake inhibitor, and is also a negative allosteric modulator of the benzodiazepine site of the GABAA receptor. Oroxylin A has been found to improve memory consolidation in mice by elevating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels in the hippocampus.
Scutellarin is a flavone, a type of phenolic chemical compound. It can be found in the Asian "barbed skullcap" Scutellaria barbata and the north American plant S. lateriflora both of which have been used in traditional medicine. The compound is found only in trace amounts in the "Chinese skullcap" Scutellaria baicalensis, another plant used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Phenolic acids or phenolcarboxylic acids are phenolic compounds and types of aromatic acid compounds. Included in that class are substances containing a phenolic ring and an organic carboxylic acid function. Two important naturally occurring types of phenolic acids are hydroxybenzoic acids and hydroxycinnamic acids, which are derived from non-phenolic molecules of benzoic and cinnamic acid, respectively.
In biochemistry, naturally occurring phenols are natural products containing at least one phenol functional group. Phenolic compounds are produced by plants and microorganisms. Organisms sometimes synthesize phenolic compounds in response to ecological pressures such as pathogen and insect attack, UV radiation and wounding. As they are present in food consumed in human diets and in plants used in traditional medicine of several cultures, their role in human health and disease is a subject of research. Some phenols are germicidal and are used in formulating disinfectants.
Clerodendrum infortunatum, known as bhat or hill glory bower, is a perennial shrub belonging to the family Lamiaceae, also sometimes classified under Verbenaceae. It is the type species among ~150 species of Clerodendrum. It is one of the most well-known natural health remedies in traditional practices and siddha medicine.
Norwogonin, also known as 5,7,8-trihydroxyflavone (5,7,8-THF), is a flavone, a naturally occurring flavonoid-like chemical compound which is found in Scutellaria baicalensis. It has been found to act as an agonist of the TrkB, the main signaling receptor of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and appears to possess roughly the same activity in this regard to that of the closely related but more well-known tropoflavin (7,8-DHF).
Forsythoside B is a natural product from the phenylpropanoid/polyphenolic glycoside group, which is found in a number of plant species in the mint order such as Marrubium alysson, Phlomis armeniaca, Scutellaria salviifolia, Phlomoides tuberosa, Phlomoides rotata, Pedicularis longiflora and Teucrium chamaedrys, several of which are used in Chinese traditional medicine in preparations such as Shuanghuanglian (双黄连). It acts as an inhibitor of inflammatory mediators such as TNF-alpha, IL-6, IκB and NF-κB, as well as the temperature sensitive channel TRPV3, but also activates the RhoA/ROCK signaling pathway which can cause hypersensitivity reactions when it is injected intravenously.
