Hiromi Shimada

Salacinol, potent antidiabetic principle with unique thiosugar sulfonium sulfate structure from the ayurvedic traditional medicine Salacia reticulata in Sri Lanka and India

A most potent natural α-glucosidase inhibitor named salacinol has been isolated from an antidiabetic Ayurvedic traditional medicine, Salacia reticulatawight, through bioassay-guided separation. The stereostructure of salacinol was determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence, which included the X-ray crystallographic analysis, and the molecular conformation showed the unique spiro-like configuration of the inner salt comprised of 1-deoxy-4-thioarabinofuranosyl cation and 1′-deoxyerythrosyl-3′-sulfate anion.

Bioactive triterpene glycosedes from several medicinal foodstuffs

Publisher Summary This chapter discussed the recent chemical and pharmacological studies of the triterpene glycosides with glucose-absorption inhibitory activity in a medicinal foodstuff, sugar beet. The chapter describes the chemical studies of the triterpene glycosides with histamine-release inhibitory activity from kidney bean. In Chinese traditional medicinal books such as Shen Nongs Herbal, compendium of Chinese Materia Medica, and Dictionary of Chinese Materia Medica, a number of foods are listed as medicine and are prescribed in various traditional preparations. However, their bioactive principles and pharmacological properties are unclarified. During the course of the characterization studies of bioactive components in natural medicines, scientists have isolated many triterpene and sterol glycosides with inhibitory activities of alcohol and glucose absorption, antiallergic, antiinflammatory, hepatoprotective, antinociceptive, and adjuvant-like activities from medicinal foodstuffs.