Abstract:

【Objective】 The contents of parthenolide from different tissues were measured in four species of Magnolia, and contents of parthenolide were also measured at different growth periods, different tree ages and different production areas in tree species with high level of parthenolide, which will provide useful lessons for the breeding programs and for the planting of medicinal plant varieties from Magnoliaceae family.【Method】 Taking Magnolia denudata, M. biondii, M. grandiflora and M. delavayi as materials, the contents of parthenolide were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in leaves, buds and root barks. Root barks from M. biondii at different growth stages, different tree ages and different production areas are measuring for its parthenolide contents. 【Result】 Among different tissues from the four species, root barks of M. biondii has the highest contents of parthenolide with an average level of 5.10%, and the contents falls to 0.72% in M. denudata, but parthenolide was not detected in M. grandiflora and M. delavayi root barks. All leaves from the four species contented parthenolide with the trace level between 0.06% and 0.59%. Only the buds of M. biondii and M. grandiflora contains parthenolide with the average level of 0.88% and 0.08% separately. The contents of parthenolide in root barks with two-year, three-year and four-year old stage of M. biondii were 2.43%, 4.07% and 4.31% separately, and the contents of two-year old was significantly different from three-year and four-year old, but no significant difference was detected from three-year and four-year old tree. During the growth period of one year, parthenolide reached the highest level of 6.04% in February, which was significantly different from that in April and December of the previous year. The contents of parthenolide in root barks of M. biondii varied from 3.22% to 5.51% in five different production areas, and the analysis of variance showed that only the tree growing in Lin'an, Zhejiang Province were significantly different from the other four sites. 【Conclusion】 The contents of parthenolide were compared in different tissues from four Magnolia species, and found that the root barks of M. biondii contained the highest level of parthenolide among the four species with different tissues. The optimal tree age determined for havesting parthenolide was three and the best harvest time was mid-February based on the comparison of root barks parthenolide contents from different tree ages and different grown stages. When aiming at harvesting a single compound of parthenolide, Nanjing and Xinyi City in Jiangsu Province and Xiangyang in Hubei Province can introduce the tree of M. biondii for parhtenolide extraction from its root bark.

Key words: Magnolia, Magnolia biondii, parthenolide, tree age, origin