"Congbai", fistular onion bulb, a Chinese herbal drug, was systematically studied in such aspects as botanical morphology, macroscopical characters, histology and so on. Scientific basis was provided to draw up the standard of identifying "Congbai".

Six new oleanane-type saponins, arilloside A-F (Ⅰ～Ⅵ), along with a known saponin, polygalasaponin ⅩⅩⅩⅤ(Ⅶ), were isolated from the root of Polygala arillata Buch.-Ham.. The structures of these new compounds were elucidated as 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl presenegenin 28-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)-(3, 4-di-O-acetyl)-β-D-fucopyranoside(Ⅰ); 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl presenegenin 28-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→3)-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)-β-D-fucopyranoside(Ⅱ); 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl presenegenin 28-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→3)-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)-(3,4-di-O-acetyl)-β-D-fucopyranoside(Ⅲ); 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl presenegenin 28-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→3)-[β-D-galactopyranosyl (1→4)]-β-D-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)-β-D-fucopyranoside(Ⅳ); 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl presenegenin 28-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→3)-[β-D-galactopyranosyl (1→4)]-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)-(3-O-acetyl)-β-D-fucopyranoside(Ⅴ) and 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl presenegenin 28-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→3)-[β-D-galactopyranosyl (1→4)]-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1→2)-(3,4-di-O-acetyl)-β-D-fucopyranoside(Ⅵ) on the basis of spectroscopic and chemical methods.

Five minor ferulic acid esters (Ⅰ～Ⅴ) were identified in a petrol extract of Melia azedarach stem bark, one (Ⅰ) of which was isolated with no impurity for the first time. By chemical and spectral methods, their structures were elucidated as hexacosylferulate (Ⅰ); tetracosylferulate (Ⅱ); pentacosylferulate (Ⅲ); heptacosylferulate (Ⅳ) and octacosylferulate (Ⅴ), respectively.

Objective To study tannins of Corylus heterophylla from Heilongjiang Province. Methods The constituents were separated and purified repeatedly by macroporons resin chromatography methods and their structures were identified by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, FAB-MS, and 1H-1HCOSY spectra, and chemical methods as well. Results Three tannins were obtained from C. heterophylla. They were heterophylliin D (Ⅰ), roxbin A ( Ⅱ ), and rugosin F ( Ⅲ ). Conclusion Heterophylliin D ( Ⅰ ) is isolated from the extract of C. heterophylla leaves as a new dimmer tannin firstly.

Objective Based on the activities of antihistamine release to study the compounds from Bidens parvi-flora and find biological active compounds. Methods The chemical constituents from B.parviflora were isolated by silica gel and Sphadex LH-20 column chromatographies and purified by preparative HPLC. The chemical structures had been identified by physiochemical properties and spectroscopic methods. Results Six caffeoylquinic acid derivatives were identified as 3, 5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid ( Ⅰ ),3, 4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid ( Ⅱ ), 4, 5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid ( Ⅲ ), 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid ( Ⅳ ), 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid ( Ⅴ ), 4-[3-(3, 4-dihydroxy-phenyl)-acryloyloxy]-2, 3-dihydroxy-2-methyl-butyric acid ( Ⅵ ). Conclusion Compounds Ⅰ - Ⅵ are first obtained from B. parviflora and Ⅵ is new one. Some of the compounds exhibit the activities in antiallergic assays. Moreover, the structure-activity relationships of these compounds have been also discussed in this paper.

Objective To study the antitumor natural products from Berlandiera lyatra. Methods Compounds were isolated by liquid/liquid partition and chromatography on Sephadex LH20 and silica gel columns. All process of the fractionation were run with the guidance of cytotoxicity bioassay by MTT method against three human cancer cell lines. The chemical structures of bio-active compounds were identified on the basis of spectroscopic data. Results From the CHCl3-soluable fraction of the title plant, two cytotoxic compounds were isolated. They were determined as 3α-epoxypumilin and pumilin. Conclusion 3α-epoxypumilin and pumilin were responsible major compounds for the cytotoxicity in the methanolic extract of the plant. Both compounds were isolated from the B. lyatra and were reported to be of antitumor activity for the first time.

Objective To study the chemical constituents from the stems of Dendrobium nobile. Methods Compounds were isolated through various chromatographic techniques and identified by spectral data. Results Twelve phenolic compounds were obtained. Their structures were characterized as dihydroconiferyl dihydro-p-coumarate (Ⅰ), vanillin (Ⅱ), apocynin (Ⅲ), p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (Ⅳ), syringaldehyde (Ⅴ), syringic acid (Ⅵ), syringylethanone (Ⅶ), α-hydroxypropiosyringone (Ⅷ), coniferyl aldehyde (Ⅸ), dihydroconiferyl alcohol (Ⅹ), 2-hydroxyphenylpropanol (Ⅺ), and 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenylethanol (Ⅻ), respectively. Conclusion All above compounds are reported from this plant for the first time. Compounds Ⅰ and Ⅲ -Ⅻ are reported for the first time from the plants of Dendrobium Sw.

Objective To study the triterpenoid saponin from bulbs of Bolbostemma paniculatum.Methods The compound was isolated by repeated silica gel chromatographies and its strcuture was eluci-dated on the basis of physico chemical property and spectral analysis. Results A novel triterpenoidsaponin was isolated and determined as olean 12-en-28-oic acid, 3- {[2-O-[6-O-[(3R)-4-carboxy-3-hydrox-y-3-methyl-1-oxobutyl]-β-D-glucopyranosyl]-β-D-glucopyranosyl] oxy}-2, 16, 23-trihydroxy-28-[2-O-α-L-rhamnose (1→2)-α-L-arabinopyranosyl] ester ( I φ. Conclusion Compound I is a novel compoundnamed as dexylosyltubeimoside Ⅲ.

Objective To investigate the mechanisms of oridonin inducing apoptosis on acute leukeamia NB4 cells and its mechanism. Methods NB4 cells in culture medium in vitro were given with different concentrations (8, 16, 24, and 32 μmol/L) of oridonin. The inhibitory rate of the cells was measured by MTT assay, cell apoptotic rate was detected by flow cytometry (FCM), morphology of apoptosis was observed by Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining, DNA fragmentation was assayed by agarose gel electrophoresis, caspase-3 expression was detected by Western blotting, and caspase-3 activity was assayed with colorimetric assay kit before and after apoptosis occurred. Results Oridonin (over 16 μmol/L) could inhibit the growth of NB4 cells and cause apoptosis significantly, the suppression was both in a timeand dose-dependent manner. Marked changes of apoptosis including condensation of chromatin and nuclear fragmentation were observed very clearly by Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining and a characteristic "ladder" of DNA fragments was elicited by agarose gel electrophoresis; Western blot analysis revealed that caspase-3 was activated by the loss of caspase-3 proenzyme (32 kDa) and the appearance of its 20 kDa subunit, and that along with the apoptotic process caspase-3 activity was increased concurrently. Conclusion Oridonin can induce apoptosis in NB4 cells via activation of caspase-3. These results will provide laboratory evidence for the clinical treatment of acute leukemia with oridonin.

Objective To fully understand the medicinal plants of Fritillaria L. , the physicochemical properties of starch in two species of Fritillaria L. , F. thunbergii and F. ussurensis. were investigated by means of various analytical methods. Methods The properties of starch in the two different species of Fritillaria L. were compared by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and themogravimetric analysis (TGA). Results The crystal type of starch in the two species of Fritillaria L.was the characteristic B-type which was in consistent with that of potato starch. The degrees of crystallinity of F. thunbergii starch and F. ussurensis starch were about 29.9% and 20.1%, respectively. However,the degree of crystallinity of the potato starch was 44.9%. From the crystallinity degree of the starch in two species of Fritillaria L. , it could be concluded that the content of amylose in F. ussurensis starch was higher than that in F. thunbergii starch. The granule size of the starch in two species of Fritillaria L.ranged from 5 to 40 μm, which were all smaller than that of the potato. The starch granule in two species of Fritillaria L. was in cycloidal or elliptic-shape. It could be concluded that the thermal stability of the starch in two species of Fritillaria L. was different due to the different structures of different starch in various plants by TGA. Conclusion The physicochemical properties of starch in two different species of Fritillaria L. differ a lot due to their geographical origin.