This article reviews lectins of animal and plant origin that induce apoptosis and autophagy of cancer cells and hence possess the potential of being developed into anticancer drugs. Apoptosis-inducing lectins encompass galectins, C-type lectins, annexins, Haliotis discus discus lectin, Polygonatum odoratum lectin, mistletoe lectin, and concanavalin A, fucose-binding Dicentrarchus labrax lectin,...

Eastern Asia (EA) is a key region for the diversification of flowering plants in the Northern Hemisphere, but few studies have focused on the biogeographic history within EA in the context of the other northern continents. Polygonatum is an important medicinal genus widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere with its highest species richness in EA, and it represents an excellent model for st...

Polygonatum (King Solomon's-seal, Solomon's Seal) is a member of family Liliaceae or Convallariaceae consist of approximately 60 species. The various species of the genus are widely distributed in the temperate regions of the East Asia. Specifically in China and Japan, approximately 40 different species of Polygonatum have been reported [1-2]. Additionally it is also found in India, Korea, Nepa...

Purpose: To determine the effects of temperature, pressure and extraction time on oil yield obtained from Polygonatum odoratum as well as the optimum processing conditions for supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) extraction. Methods: Supercritical CO2 extraction technology was adopted in this experiment to study the process of extraction of volatile oil from Polygonatum odoratum while gas chromat...

Plants of genus Polygonatum (Ruscaceae) are widely used in traditional medicine to cure many diseases such as ageing, antioxidative action, insecticidal, antiherpetic, antinociception and aphrodisiac. A variety of phytoconstituents has been isolated from the Polygonatum species which include lignans, flavonoids, coumarins, steroids, terpenes, fatty acids and aliphatic long chain compounds. Anti...

1. A prolyl-s-RNA synthetase (prolyl-transfer RNA synthetase) has been purified about 250-fold from seed of Phaseolus aureus (mung bean), a species not producing azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, and more than 10-fold from rhizome apices of Polygonatum multiflorum, a liliaceous species containing azetidine-2-carboxylic acid. The latter enzyme was unstable during ammonium sulphate fractionation. 2. T...

An HPLC/ESI/MS method has been developed to identify and quantify the spirostanol glycosides in the rhizomes of five Polygonatum species. The relative distribution of two steroidal saponins in each extract was established using the selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode via an electrospray ionization (ESI) source. It was found that there were significant differences in the amount of spirostanol gl...

Polygonatum verticillatum All. is used traditionally as an analgesic and plant diuretic. The methanol extract of aerial parts of Polygonatum verticillatum (PA) was assessed in various experimental paradigms. The pain threshold in the form of abdominal constriction induced by acetic acid was significantly (p < 0.01) inhibited by PA at test doses (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg). In the formalin test, PA ...

Polygonatum orientale Desf. (Asparagaceae) is herbaceous and perennial plant grown in northern parts of Iran. The rhizomes of Polygonatum, known as Iranian Shaghagho, is used in Iranian traditional medicine as tonic, aphrodisiac, wound healing, lightening, kidney stone remedy, gynecological and internal wounds healing, anti-gout and rheumatism, and anti-diabetic. The aim of this study was to ev...

when expressed as a percentage of the total nitrogen. This observation is in agreement with those recorded previously for typical storage organs. 3. The two plants contained very large amounts of the imino acid, azetidine-2-carboxylic acid. Nitrogen present in azetidine-2-carboxylic acid represented more than 50% of the total nitrogen of Polygonatum rhizome. The imino acid was also present in h...