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The metabolite profiles and antioxidant activity of Dendrobium catenatum Lindley leaf, a new functional ingredient for food product development, were evaluated in samples that had been prepared using various methods, including freeze-drying, hot-air drying, rolling before drying, steaming before drying, steaming and rolling before drying, and drying at 100, 80, and 60 °C. The concentrations of polysaccharides and flavonoids, as well as the antioxidant capacity of each sample, were determined. Furthermore, two nucleosides, four amino acids, one monoaromatic compound, and eight flavonoids were identified in dried leaves using high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector–electrospray ionization–multistage mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn) and ultraviolet (UV) spectral analyses. The content of polar compounds such as cytidylic acid, arginine, tyrosine, and hydroxybenzoic acid hexose increased dramatically during hot-air-drying and rolling-before-drying treatments, while flavonol C-glycosides remained stable throughout the various treatments and drying temperatures. Rolling before drying at 100 °C was identified as the most suitable process when manufacturing tea products from D. catenatum leaves. This process resulted in a high-antioxidant-activity and visually appealing tea. This report details a potential strategy that should be applied in the manufacturing processes of high-quality products from D. catenatum leaves.

A bioassay-guided in vitro screen has revealed that a 70% methanol extract of the leaves of Salix matsudana shows considerable inhibitory activity against cyclooxygenases (COX-1 and COX-2). A subsequent phytochemical study led to the isolation of a new flavonoid, matsudone A (1), together with five known flavonoids – luteolin (2), isoquercitrin (3), 7-methoxyflavone (4), luteolin 7-O-glucoside (5), 4',7-dihydroxyflavone (6) – and two phenolic glycosides, leonuriside A (7) and piceoside (8). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR studies, high resolution ESI mass spectroscopic analyses and comparisons with literature data. The isolated compounds 1-8 were tested for their inhibitory activities against COX-1 and COX-2. Compounds 1, 5 and 6 were found to have potent inhibitory effect on COX-2 and compounds 3-5 exhibited moderate inhibition against COX-1.