Illicium

Illicium verum Hook. f. is used as an herbal tea to treat colic pain in infants. Reports suggest that Star anise herbal tea may be adulterated with Illicium anisatum Linn. A short and rapid method using microscopy and gas chromatography (GC) was developed to detect I. anisatum Linn., an adulterant in the powdered mixture of I. verum. Anatomical differences in the epicarp cells of I. verum and I. anisatum fruits were clearly defined as examined under fluorescent microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A GC method was developed for quick identification of possible I. anisatum adulteration with I. verum.

Illicium lanceolatum is a popular aromatic and medicinal plant in China. Essential oil from the roots of I. lanceolatum, obtained by hydrodistillation, was analysed by GC–MS. The essential oil was dominated by phenylpropenes. The major components were myristicin (17.63%), α-asarone (17.23%), methyl isoeugenol (11.19%), apiol (8.82%) and isolongifolol (5.94%). When investigated using acetic acid-induced abdominal writhe models and the xylene-induced ear oedema model, the essential oil showed significantly antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects. The results indicate that the essential oil may contain the bioactive components of I. lanceolatum. This is the first report on the chemistry, antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of I. lanceolatum.

Садовский А.С., Соколов И.А. Не чаем единым… Несколько слов о напитках дочайной эпохи [Текст, изображения] // Кофе & Чай в России: деловой журнал, №4 (114) за 2014 г. – С. 30 – 34.
Sadowski A.S., Sokolov I.A. Not only tea ... A few words about drinks before-tea era // Coffee & Tea in Russia: business magazine, # 4 (114) for the 2014. – PP. 30 – 34.

Illicium verum is used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation. The study investigates the effects of IVE and its component, trans-anethole (AET), on airway inflammation in ovalbumin- (OVA-) induced asthmatic mice. Asthma was induced in BALB/c mice by systemic sensitization to OVA, followed by intratracheal, intraperitoneal, and aerosol allergen challenges. IVE and AET were orally administered for four weeks. We investigated the effects of treatment on airway hyperresponsiveness, IgE production, pulmonary eosinophilic infiltration, immune cell phenotypes, Th2 cytokine production in bronchoalveolar lavage, Th1/Th2 cytokine production in splenocytes, forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) expression, and lung histology. IVE and AET ameliorated OVA-driven airway hyperresponsiveness (p<0.01), pulmonary eosinophilic infiltration (p<0.05), mucus hypersecretion (p<0.01), and IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and CCR3 production (p<0.05), as well as IgE levels (p<0.01). IVE and AET increased ...

The total synthesis of the putative non-peptidyl neurotrophic factor 11-O-debenzoyltashironin has been accomplished. The key transformation involves a biomimetic oxidative dearomatization/transannular Diels-Alder sequence that closes the tetracyclic carbon skeleton present in the natural product.

ABSTRACT Soothes your nerves: The enantiomerically enriched cis-1,2-dihydrocatechol 4 has been converted, over 16 steps including one involving an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction, into the sesquiterpenoid natural product khusiol (3), which is structurally related to the neurite outgrowth-promoting natural product 11-O-debenzoyltashironin (1).