Planta Med 2010; 76 - P73
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1251835

Glycero- and Sphingo-glycolipids from Green Tea

Z Ali 1, TJ Smillie 1, IA Khan 1, 2
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Department of Pharmacognosy, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, MS 38677, USA

Tea is one of the most broadly distributed beverages in the world, which is prepared from the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis. Polyphenols in the form of catechins, the abundant metabolites of tea are considered to be responsible for a number of biological activities including cancer therapy and anti-inflammatory effect [1–4]. Fifteen glycolipids including two glycerosulfoquinovolipids, nine glycerogalactoolipids and four sphingoglucolipids were isolated and identified for the first time from green tea. The reported anti-inflammatory, anticancer and anti-HIV activities of these types of agents open a debate on their role in the activities associated with green tea.

Acknowledgement: The work was supported by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Specific Cooperative Research Agreement Number 5U01FD002071–08. References: [1] Velayutham P, Babu A, et al. (2008) Current Medicinal Chemistry 15: 1840–1850. [2] Chopade VV, Phatak AA, et al. (2008) Pharmacognosy Reviews 2: 157–162. [3] Boon HS, Olatunde, F, et al. (2007) BioMed Central Womens Health 7: 1–7. [4] Thielecke F, Boschmann M (2009) Phytochemistry 70: 11–24.

P73, Fig.1