Research on the Chemical Components of Fragrance
Jiangxiang is the dry heartwood of the trunk and roots of the Leguminosae plant Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen. Dalbergia odorifera, also known as Huanghua pear, is mainly distributed in the western and southwestern plains or hilly areas of Hainan Island. It has a fragrant and warm taste, and is pungent in nature. It belongs to the liver and spleen meridians and has the effects of promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, stopping bleeding, and relieving pain. It is mainly used in combination with Danshen to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and angina pectoris. Commonly used in clinical practice are compound Danshen injection and Guanxin Danshen tablets. The effective chemical components in reducing fragrance are flavonoids such as dihydroflavones, isoflavones, dihydroflavones, isoflavones, rosewood extract, chalcones, and volatile oils mainly composed of sesquiterpenes such as orange blossom tertiary alcohol. Pharmacological studies have shown that flavonoids in Angelica sinensis have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and antibacterial activities, while volatile oil components have anti thrombotic, promoting angiogenesis, and improving myocardial function effects. In addition, Xiangxiang also has biological activities such as acetylcholinesterase inhibition and neuroprotection.
Alpha glucosidase is a key enzyme that causes hyperglycemia, and its inhibitors can have a hypoglycemic effect. Modern research has shown that flavonoids not only have biological activities such as anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, but also have potential as inhibitors of alpha glucosidase, which has attracted the attention of researchers. Jiangxiang contains a large amount of flavonoids and sesquiterpenes, but research on the α – glucosidase inhibitory activity of its chemical components is relatively weak. In order to further explore the chemical components with α – glucosidase inhibitory activity in Chinese medicine and enrich the material basis of Chinese medicine, various chromatographic techniques were used to separate and purify the ethyl acetate portion of the ethanol extract of Chinese medicine. The pNPG method was used to determine the inhibitory activity of the compounds on α – glucosidase.

Ten compounds, including two sesquiterpenes (1, 2) and eight flavonoids (3-10), were isolated from the fragrance. Among them, compound 1 is an eucalyptol type sesquiterpene with certain α – glucosidase inhibitory activity, which is the first reported compound type with this activity in Chinese medicine; Compounds 8 and 9 are compounds of the rosewood class, with significant α – glucosidase inhibitory activity. According to literature reports, compound 8 has a certain inhibitory effect on Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Compounds 8 and 9 also exhibit inhibitory effects on the proliferation of human liver cancer cells. Therefore, in future work, the mechanism of action of such compounds should be further studied. This article provides a material basis for the pharmacological research of reducing fragrance, and also serves as a reference for the development and application of reducing fragrance.