Bioactive components in kombucha tea, Cryptocarya massoy (Oken) Kosterm., and Rollinia emarginata Schlecht
Abstract
The purpose of the present investigation was to analyze the bioactive compounds in three natural sources: kombucha tea, Cryptocarya massoy , and Rollinia emarginata. Bioactive constituents were isolated in pure form using bioactivity-directed fractionation and assayed by the brine shrimp lethality test. Pure compounds were tested further in vitro using a panel of six tumor cell lines derived from human solid tumors. The only agent in kombucha tea that was found to be cytotoxic was caffeine, which was isolated from the bacterial mat, not the beverage, the only part consumed. It is unlikely that kombucha tea is effective as an anticancer agent, although tests were not done in animals. Consumption of kombucha tea has been associated with a number of cases of toxic reactions, either through contamination of the beverage or the bacterial mat or through physiological problems related to acidosis. Kombucha tea therefore has no proven effectiveness as an anticancer agent and actually might be unsafe. Cryptocarya massoy (Oken) Kosterm is a tree that has been used in traditional medicine to treat fevers and is known to resist insect and fungal predation. Benzyl benzoate, benzyl salicylate, goniothalamin, heptyl-lactone, and nonyllactone were found to be the active compounds in C. massoy . Although some of these compounds showed good cytotoxic activity, they can be found in other species. Because C. massoy is endangered in the wild, its collection should be limited. Rollinia emarginata Schlecht. is in the family Annonaceae. The following bioactive compounds were found in R. emarginata: the already known bullatacin, sylvaticin, and rollinicin, and three new acetogenins: remargin, (2,4-cis and trans)sylvaticinones, and emarginatin. This species could be a rapidly growing domestic source for bullatacin, which was originally isolated from Annona bullata, a native of Cuba that is therefore unavailable in the United States.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
McLaughlin, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Pharmaceuticals|Pharmacology|Oncology
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