Cyclocarya paliurus is an ancient and rare species of tree that survived the Quaternary Glacial Period. The leaves of Cyclocarya paliurus mainly contain polysaccharides, flavonoids, triterpenoid saponins, trace elements, and other chemical components, hence having various pharmacological activities, especially a unique therapeutic effect in reducing blood glucose and blood fat.
The book Cyclocarya Paliurus Metabolites Research and Product Development, edited by Prof. Li Junmin from Taizhou University, was published by the China Forestry Publishing House. Li Junmin Team comprehensively elaborated on the composition, biosynthetic mechanism, pharmacological activities of primary and secondary metabolites of Cyclocarya paliurus, as well as current status of health product development based on domestic and foreign literature as well as research results from their laboratory. Team members Chen Luxi, Cai Chaonan, Du Zhaokui, Zhu Ziping, Lin Weida, Ma Junxia, Tong Yingpeng, Zhang Zhicheng, and Li Na participated in writing several chapters of the book. The book is easy to understand and can be used by researchers and educators in botany, ecology, forestry, and related fields. It also serves as a reference for students in agriculture and forestry-related disciplines and a guide for researchers and managers in the field of wild plant conservation and development.
The paper “The physiochemical characteristics of Cyclocarya paliurus polysaccharides and in vitro anti-diabetic effects of their different fractions,” written by Dr. Zhu Ziping from the team as the first author, was published in Industrial Crops & Products (2024, 211:118188; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.118188), a top journal in the first tier of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The paper studied the in vitro anti-diabetic effects of six different components of Cyclocarya paliurus polysaccharides and found out the most suitable component for product development.
The paper “Antidiabetic effects and mechanisms of Cyclocarya paliurus leaf flavonoids via PIK3CA,” written by jointly trained graduate student Wang Yanjun as the first author, was published in Journal of Functional Foods (2024, 113:106031; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2024.106031), a second-tier top journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The paper used network pharmacological methods to predict nine Cyclocarya paliurus flavonoids with anti-diabetic effects, and validated the anti-diabetic function of these compounds through in vitro cell experiments, transcriptomic experiments, and biofilm interference technology, revealing the potential anti-diabetic mechanism related to the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway.
The work mentioned above was supported and funded by the Zhejiang Key R&D Project “Research and Development Applications of Special Functional Factors of Cyclocarya paliurus as a Characteristic New Resource Food” (No.20188C2021) and the Pan’an County Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry “Leader in List” Project “Key Technologies for the High-value Utilization and Industrialization of materia medica with food and medicine homology in Pan’an County”.
