Quantitative Differences in Alkaloids, the Ingredients for Crude Drug, and Other Useful Compounds in Uncaria rhynchophylla among Various Tissue Parts

Abstract

Uncaria rhynchophylla clone plants were harvested five times in summer and autumn for two consecutive years in Japan, and the contents of alkaloids, the ingredients for crude drug, in different tissue parts such as branches and leaves were determined. The results indicated that the contents in the branches with hooks (secondary branches) were more than 0.03% on dried sample weight, which are required for usage as crude drug material by Japanese Pharmacopoeia. In addition, less alkaloids contents in the leaves than in the secondary branches and the tip parts of the base branches from which the secondary branches ramified, and higher content in summer than autumn in every tissue part were also known. Quantitative differences in the extractives (useful compound) other than alkaloids between leaves (non-materials for crude drug) and branches with hooks harvested from the identical plants in August for two consecutive years were also investigated. The results indicated that the leaves contained more vitamin Es (tocopherols), especially α- and β-tocopherols which have higher bioactivities, than the branches with hooks did, and contained comparable amounts of sterols which were commonly known as bioactive compounds with the branches with hooks.