Elucidation of phytochemicals and antioxidants properties of Sasa quelpaertensis

Sasa quelpaertensis Nakai extract (SQE) has long been used as a traditional medicine and health drink. The present study aims to examine the properties and antioxidant activity of the phytochemicals isolated from S. quelpaertensis. Therefore, the SQE was fractionated with n-hexane, chloroform (CHCl3), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and n-butanol (BuOH). Phytochemicals present in the solvent fraction were also isolated using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. In addition, their DPPH radical scavenging ability and NO production inhibitory effect were compared. The results showed that phytochemicals p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (1), salicylic acid (2), syringaldehyde (3), methyl cis-p-hydroxycinnamate (4), methyl trans-p-hydroxycinnamate (5), p-coumaric acid (6), 2,3-dihydrozypropyl 9Z,12Z-octadecadienoate (7), (+)-(6S,7aS)-epilolide (8), (-)-(6 R,7aS)-loliolide (9), naringenin (10), 3-O-p-coumaroyl-1-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-1-O-β-glucopyranosylpropanol (11), tricin (12), and tricin 7-O-b-D-glucopyranoside (13) were isolated from CHCl3, EtOAc, and BuOH fractions and then identified using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry. This is an initial study on compounds 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 obtained from S. quelpaertensis. Compounds 11 (IC50 120.3 μM) and 7 (IC50 43.62 μM) showed significant DPPH radical scavenging activity and anti-inflammatory activity, respectively. We believe these results may provide the basic data for developing effective antioxidants using the SQE.