earticle

영어

Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is an important aquatic economic crop in China, and it has been widely cultivated in Asia. Almost every part of lotus (roots, leaves, flowers, and seeds) not only can be used as a food-stuff, but also have multiple medicinal functions [1]. In China, lotus leaves and seeds are publicly identified as both food and medicine resources. There is much research concerned with lotus leaves and seeds. It has been reported that the extract from lotus leaves and seeds have multiple bioactivities, such as being anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory, and anti-obesity [3-5] etc. The bioactivities of lotus are due to the functional components in lotus including polysaccharides, polyphenols, flavonoids etc. As an inedible part of lotus, lotus seed epicarp also has attracted additional attention. Lotus seed epicarp, the main by-product of lotus seed processing, is also abundant in polyphenols and worthy to be used as a functional food. Lotus seed epicarp extract has been used as a potential antioxidant and anti-obesity additive in Chinese Cantonese Sausage, which was the first use of lotus seed epicarp extract in meat product. However, little is known about the purification and identification of the key compounds from lotus seed epicarp. The aim of this study on the titled plant led to the isolation and purification of eleven known compounds. Eleven compounds ethyl linoleate (1), (e)-9-octadecenoic acid ethyl ester (2), 7β-hydroxy betulinic acid (3), Betulinic acid (4), α-amyrin (5), β-amyrin (6), Kaempferol-3-rutinoside (7), Isorhamnetin-3-O-β-gentiobioside (8), Quercetin (9), Rutin (10), Quercetin-3-O-β-Dgalactopyranoside (11) were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract of lotus seed epicarp. Their structures were elucidated spectroscopically. To the best of our knowledge, It is worth nothing that compounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 were never isolated from this plant.