Studies On The Chemicalconstituentsand Quality Controlof Geum Japonicum Thunb. Var. Chinense F. Bolle

Geum japonicum Thunb. var. chinense F. Bolle belongs to the family Rosaceae, genus Geum which comprises ca. 70 species of plants, four of which are found in China. It is commonly known as"Lanbuzheng", widely distributed in China growing at 200-3500 m above sea level. It has been used as a herbal medicine in diuretics and astringents.Previous investigations on G. japonicum revealed the presence of ursane-type triterpenoids, sterols, and tannins. It had been documented in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia 1977 in which there were only characters description and identification. Therefore, it is necessary to study the chemical constituents and quality control of G. japonicum.In this study, we investigated the chemical constituents of G. japonicum, which were collected from Gaopo country, Guizhou province, in July 2007. Thirty-three compounds were obtained by various chromatographic methods including silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and preparative-HPLC, the structures of all compounds were identified by the spectroscopic analysis (ESI-MS, HRESI-MS, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and 2D-NMR), or by comparing their spectral data with those published in literatures. These compounds were identified as follows: *GC-1: 20?,28-epoxy-28-hydroxytaraxasteran-3?-ol GC-2: ?-sitosterol GC-3: daucosterol GC-4: ?-tocoquinone GC-5: 3'-O-methyl-3,4-methylenedioxo ellagic acid GC-6: 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid GC-7: apocynin GC-8: loliolide GC-9: isololiolide GC-10: p-hydroxycinnamic acid GC-11: progallin A GC-12: megastigman-7-ene-3,5,6,9-tetrol GC-13: ursolic acid GC-14: 1?,2?,19?-trihydroxy-3-oxo-12-ursen-28-oic acid GC-15: 3-O-trans-p-coumaroyltormentic acid GC-16: tormentic acid GC-17: 2?,3?,19?,23-tetrahydroxy-12-ursen-28-oic-acid GC-18: 28-?-D-glucoside-2?,3?,19?-trihydroxy-12-ursen-28-oic acid *GC-19: (7R,8R)-4-hydroxy-9'-O-(?-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-3,3',5' -trimethoxy-8-O-4'-neolignan *GC-20: (7R,8S)-4-hydroxy-9'-O-(?-L-rhamnopyranosyl)-3,3',5' -trimethoxy-8-O-4'-neolignan GC-21: agrimonolide 6-O-?-D-glucoside GC-22: tiliroside GC-23: gallic acid GC-24: kaempferol 3-O-(6''-O-Z-p-coumaroyl)-?-D- glucopyranoside GC-25: kaempferol 3-O-?-D-glucopyranoside GC-26: quercetin GC-27: ellagic acid GC-28: 3'-O-methyl-3,4-O,O-metheneellagic acid-4'-O-?-D- glucopynanoside GC-29: 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid-4'-O-?-D-glucopyranoside GC-30: nigaichigoside F1 GC-31: cupressoside A GC-32: (7R,8S)-3-methoxy-3',7-epoxy-8,4'-oxyneoligna-4,9,9'- triol-9'-O-?-L-rhamnopyranoside *GC-33: (7S,8S)-5-methoxycupressoside APhytochemical investigation of the whole plants of G. japonicum afforded one new taraxasterane-type triterpene (GC-1), three new neoligans (GC-19, GC-20, GC-33), and twenty-nine other known compounds. GC-1, GC-19, GC-20, GC-31, GC-32 and GC-33 are reported for the first time from Geum genus.In order to study the quality control of G. japonicum, we collected ten samples from different areas such as Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan Province. These plants were identified as G. aleppicum and G. japonicum by comparing the flora of China. The traits of G. japonicum, microscopic identification, TLC identification, moisture content, ash content, acid-insoluble ash, extracts and content determination by Gallic acid were added to Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2010.Moreover, all compounds were evaluated for anti-inflammatory activities against NO production in RAW264.7 macrophages, and only moderate activities were detected.