Abstract
The dried roots of Angelica acutiloba (Yamato-toki in Japanese) are an important crude drug component of traditional Chinese prescriptions used to improve menopausal symptoms. The improvement in blood circulation by Yamato-toki was revealed by the oral administration of (Z)-ligustilide, a major ingredient of Yamato-toki, which showed significant shortening of euglobulin lysis time. This is the first report to reveal fibrinolytic activity of (Z)-ligustilide. Furthermore, ferulic acid and adenosine were two active ingredients with antiplatelet, antierythrocyte aggregation, and fibrinolytic activities. A. acutiloba roots are processed into Yamato-toki by Yumomi treatment, which is a traditional processing procedure involving blanching in hot water. Methanol extracts of A. acutiloba roots with or without Yumomi treatment showed similar dose-dependent and significant antierythrocyte aggregation activities. There was no discernable difference in the (Z)-ligustilide, ferulic acid, and adenosine contents between A. acutiloba roots with or without Yumomi treatment. Sugar analysis results indicated that Yumomi processing increases the monosaccharide content, which enhances sweetness. The results showed that (Z)-ligustilide was a fibrinolytic activator. However, there was no enhancement of biological activity following Yumomi treatment. Thus, Yumomi is utilized mainly to improve appearance and quality, as evaluated by sensory tests, and to enhance sweetness and brownish color rather than raising the contents of ingredients.
