Schisandra rubriflora Fruit and Leaves as Promising New Materials of High Biological Potential: Lignan Profiling and Effect-Directed Analysis

The effect-directed detection (EDD) of Schisandra rubriflora fruit and leaves extracts was performed to assess their pharmacological properties. The EDD comprised TLC-direct bioautography against Bacillus subtilis, a DPPH assay, as well as alpha-glucosidase, lipase, tyrosinase, and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition assays. The leaf extracts showed stronger antioxidant activity than the fruit extract as well as inhibition of tyrosinase and lipase. The fruit extract was found to be extremely active against B. subtilis and to inhibit alpha-glucosidase and AChE slightly more than the leaf extracts. UHPLC-MS/MS analysis was carried out for the bioactive fractions and pointed to the possible anti-dementia properties of the dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans found in the upper TLC fractions. Gomisin N (518 mg/100 g DW), schisanhenol (454 mg/100 g DW), gomisin G (197 mg/100 g DW), schisandrin A (167 mg/100 g DW), and gomisin O (150 mg/100 g DW) were the quantitatively dominant compounds in the fruit extract. In total, twenty-one lignans were found in the bioactive fractions.

Automated summary

The effect-directed detection (EDD) was conducted to evaluate the pharmacological properties of Schisandra rubriflora fruit and leaves extracts. The results showed that both fruit and leaf extracts exhibited antioxidant activity, with stronger inhibition of lipase and tyrosinase by the leaf extracts, and slightly higher inhibition of alpha-glucosidase and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) by the fruit extract. UHPLC-MS/MS analysis indicated the presence of potential anti-dementia compounds in the bioactive fractions. Gomisin N, schisanhenol, gomisin G, schisandrin A, and gomisin O were the dominant compounds in the fruit extract.