Study on the Antioxidant, Hypoglycemic and Laxative Components of Cistanche Deserticola

Abstract

Cistanche deserticola (CD) is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb with multi-functions. However, the component-activity relationship has not been clarified. The antioxidant, hypoglycemic and laxative activities of different components extracted from CD such as phenylethanoid glycosides (PeG), polysaccharide (CDP), oligosaccharide (OLS) and soluble dietary fiber (SDF) were compared in this study based on the methods of reducing power, scavenging DPPH and ABTS radical, α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition, small intestinal transit and defecation. Results showed that PeG had higher antioxidant activity than CDP, while SDF was more effective than other CD extracts in the inhibition of both α-glucosidase and α-amylase. Both OLS and SDF have laxative activity, and the former is better. Small intestinal transit was significantly accelerated when the mice were fed with OLS or SDF at middle and high dose (P < 0.05). In the defecation time of first black feces and granule number of feces within 6 h, significant difference appeared in the middle dosage of OLS group, while not for SDF group. This result could provide new insight into a full utilization of different CD extracts, which could be useful for treatment of oxidative stress reaction, diabetes, constipation and their complications.