Analyses on Essential Oil Components from the Unripe Fruits of Rubus chingii Hu by Different Methods and Their Comparative Cytotoxic and Anti-complement Activities

摘要

Rubus chingii Hu, belonging to the family of Rosaceae, is a nutritious fruit with various bioactivities and is widely distributed in both north and south China. This research was aimed to analyse its compositions of essential oils and their potential biological effects. Three different methods, steam distillation extraction (SDE), Soxhlet extraction (SE) with ethanol, and SE with ether, were employed to extract the essential oils from R. chingii. Chemical compositions of the three essential oils were identified by GC-MS; their cytotoxic and anti-complement activities were comparatively studied. Results showed that the yields of essential oils were 0.15 % (SDE), 2.12 % (SE-ethanol) and 1.98 % (SE-ether) (w/w), respectively. A total of 58 compounds were identified, including nine saturated hydrocarbons, 10 unsaturated hydrocarbons, nine alcohols, two carbonyl compounds, 11 esters, seven organic acids, eight oxides and epoxides and two others. Biological evaluation displayed that the essential oils extracted by SE-ether exhibited the highest anti-complementary activity, even higher than heparin (control). The essential oils extracted by SDE and SE-ethanol both showed certain cytotoxicity on A549 cell lines, and the former was higher than the latter. These results indicated the importance of selecting appropriate methods in practice.