Study On Chemical Composition Antibacterial And Antioxidant Activity Of Sichuan Figwort Extract

Sichuan figwort, also known as Scrophularia kakudensis Franch., mainly grows in Sichuan and northeast of China. Its tuberous roots, which have an effect of cooling blood and nourishing "yin", have been used in Oriental medicine as a treatment for fever, swelling, constipation, pharyngitis, neuritis and laryngitis. The thesis studied the chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of Sichuan figwort for the first time, and provided a scientific evidence for the deep exploration and usage of it.In this thesis, antibacterial activities of Sichuan figwort extract have been evaluated via paper diffusion method and serial dilution method. The results showed that none of extracts had inhibitory effect on aerogenes. Extracts from petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate had certain inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis, and the best inhibition is from chloroform. But extracts from n-butanol and water have no inhibitory effect on these bacterial. It could be speculated that the antibacterial substances of Sichuan figwort mainly existed in these extract from petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate.The antioxidant effects of Sichuan figwort extract have been evaluated in these systems of superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical, the nitrite ion and reducing capacity. In the superoxide anion system, the antioxidant capacity of ethyl acetate extract was the strongest, followed by chloroform and n-butanol extract, and that of the petroleum ether and water extract were the weakest. In the hydroxyl radical system, the order of the strength of the antioxidant capacity of various extract: ethyl acetate>n-butanol>chloroform> petroleum ether> water. In the nitrite ion system, the antioxidant capacities of ethyl acetate extract and n-butanol extract were similar and stronger than the remaining three extracts. In the reduction system, the reduction capacities of chloroform extract, ethyl acetate extract and n-butanol extract were similar and significantly stronger than petroleum extract and water extract.System pre-trial has been used for analysing the chemical constituents of Sichuan figwort. And the results showed that:the chemical constituents mainly contained sugars, glycosides, saponins, sterols, triterpenes, and organic acids, maybe contained alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and polyphenols. Its constituents were separated and purified with classic column chromatographic methods and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Five compounds have been isolated from Sichuan figwort. They were identified as: cinnamic acid, β-sitosterol, ferulic acid, ursolic acid and catapol.