Abstract
We screened for the inhibitory activities of 19 wild vegetable and fruit extracts for renin-angiotensin system (RAS)-related enzymes, including renin, angiotensin- converting enzyme (ACE), chymase, and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Among them, a hot water extract of Brasenia schreberi (Water shield, Junsai) strongly inhibited renin and chymase activities and significantly inhibited ACE and ACE2 activities. We also tested the RAS-related enzyme inhibitory activities of 13 polyphenols isolated from Brasenia schreberi. The polyphenols mostly had little effect on ACE and ACE2 activities. Among them, hypolaetin 7-O-glucoside showed the strongest chymase inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 3.8 μM. Some other polyphenols also inhibited renin and chymase activities.