The genus Orobanche, Cistanche and Boschniakia are taxonomically classified as members of Orobanchaceae. The medicinal plants of these three genera are closely related, and their traditional curative effects are similar. As representative compounds, phenethyl glycosides are predominantly dominant type both in amount and in chemical structural varieties, which are considered to be the important bioactive material basis of these genera. In this paper, phenethyl glycosides and their pharmacological activities are described in a single list. In addition, the other compounds were also reviewed in order to better compare the difference of the bioactive substances. These findings have important reference value for effective development and rational utilization of resources of medicinal plants in the family Orobanchaceae.
Cistanche ; Glycosides ; Orobanchaceae ; Orobanche ; Plants, Medicinal

Several Orobanche medicinal plants sometimes served as alternative sources of Cistanches Herba, attributing to the benefits such as tonifying kidney, strengthening tendons and bones. Among them, O. coerulescens, O. cernua and O. pycnostachya have been widely utilized in northern China for treatments of pains in the loins and knees, impotence, and spermatorrhea. However, their chemical profiles haven't been elucidated. In the present study, UHPLC-IT-TOF-MS was implemented to conduct in-depth chemome profiling of O. coerulescens, O. cernua and O. pycnostachya, aiming to achieve a comprehensive chemical characterization and to provide pronounced information for the quality control and clinical applications. An ACE Ultra-Core 2.5 Super C_(18)(3.0 mm×150 mm, 2.5 μm) column was deployed for chromatographic separations, and high-resolution MS~n spectra were recorded by IT-TOF-MS. Forty-eight components, in total, were observed, and thirty-eight ones were structurally annotated according to proposing mass fragmentation patterns, matching with relevant databases. Particularly, nine ones were confirmed by reference compounds. Overall, the chemical compositions of O. coerulescens and O. cernua are quite similar, and differences occur between O. pycnostachya and the prior two ones; primary chemical family is phenylethanoid glycosides, and several lignan glycosides as well as iridoid glycosides are also observed; the primary components include acteoside, isoacteoside, crenatoside and 2'-acetylacteoside, etc.
China ; Cistanche ; Glycosides ; Male ; Orobanche ; Plants, Medicinal

Orobanche caerulescens is an important medicinal resource in Orobanchaceae. The present study aims to establish methods for determination of acteoside, crenatoside, and total phenylethanoid glycosides in O. caerulescens, and determine the content in 15 samples to evaluate the resource utilization of this medicinal plant. The content of acteoside and crenatoside were quantitatively determined by HPLC, while total phenylpropanoid glycosides was estimated by UV-VIS spectrophotometry. According to the results, the content of acteoside was the highest in O. caerulescens, followed by crenatoside. The contents of acteoside, crenatoside, and total phenylethanoid glycosides were between 1.15% - 15.60%, 0.83% - 4.47%, and 6.78% - 27.43%, respectively, which had significant differences. The acquisition time has great influence on the content of main components of O. caerulescens. The content of phenylethanoid glycosides is higher in the samples which were collected at the flowering stage. The two determination methods were proved to be simple, accurate and reliable, and can be used to evaluate the quality and resource utilization of O. caerulescens.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Glycosides ; analysis ; Orobanche ; chemistry

In this paper the species of ethnic medicinal plants Orobanche, Cistanche and Boschniakia, and their ethnopharmaceutical uses were comprehensively summarized by field investigation, systematical data analysis and comparison of relevant specimen and references. The results showed that six plants belonging to Orobanche were used as seven kinds of ethnic medicinal plants, two plants attributing Boschniakia were used as ten kinds of ethnic medicinal plants, two plants of Cistanche were used as three ethnic medicinal plants. The same plant was often used as different ethnic medicine in varied ethnic minorities. The effects of the ethnic medicines included yang-tonifying, hemostasis and analgesic activities. Hence, it is necessary to develop the rich plant resource of Orobanche for alleviation of Cistanche resources shortage.
Cistanche ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Orobanchaceae ; chemistry ; Orobanche ; chemistry ; Phytotherapy

The dried succulent stems of Cistanche (Cistanche deserticola Y. C. Ma and Cistanche tubulosa Wight.) are one of the most widely used components of traditional Chinese medicines. However, it is often confused and substituted with the roots of Orobanche pycnostachya, Boschniakia rossica (Cham. & Schltdl.) Standl., Cistanche sinensis Beck, and Cistanche salsa (C. A. Mey.) Beck. In this study, we identified psbA-trnH regions from species and tested their suitable for the identification of the above mentioned taxa. The psbA-trnH sequences showed considerable variations between species and thus were revealed as a promising candidate for barcoding of Cistanche species. Additionally, the average genetic distance of psbA-trnH ranging from 0.077% to 0.743%. In contrast, the intra-specific variation among Cistanche species was found to be significantly different from those of other species, with percentages of variation studied ranged from 0% to 0.007%. The sequence difference between the psbA-trnH sequences of Cistanche species and Orobanche pycnostachya ranged from 0.979% to 1.149%. The distance between the Cistanche species and Boschniakia rossica ranged from 1.066% to 1.224%. Our results suggest that the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer region represent a barcode that can be used to identify Cistanche species and other morphologically undistinguishable species.
Base Sequence ; Cistanche ; genetics ; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic ; methods ; DNA, Intergenic ; genetics ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Orobanche ; genetics ; Phylogeny ; Plant Stems ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; genetics ; Plastids ; genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; methods ; Species Specificity