title: Chemical and biological assessment of Ziziphus jujuba fruits from China: different geographical sources and developmental stages.
abstract: Chinese date, the fruit of Ziziphus jujuba Mill., has thousands of years cultivation history, and about 700 cultivars of dates in China. Two types of dates are commonly found in the market: (i) fresh immature dates consumed as fruits, and (ii) dried mature dates used as Chinese medicines. Here, chemical and biological properties of these dates were revealed. Different sources of dates showed similar chemical profiles; however, the amounts of identified chemicals showed a great variation. The amount of nucleotides, flavonoids and polysaccharides in dates could be affected by its maturity and drying process. In parallel, the antioxidative functions of their extracts were compared. The date extracts protected PC12 cells against tBHP-induced cytotoxicity, and which also stimulated the transcriptional activity of antioxidant response element. The antioxidative effects were varied among different dates. The current results suggested the optimization of sources and specific usage of different maturity dates.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science and Center for Chinese Medicine, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhonggui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Maitinuer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maiwulanjiang
authors.forename: Wendy L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Janis Y X
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Candy T W
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Kevin Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Roy C Y
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: David T W
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Tina T X
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Karl W K
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Tsim
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002681:China; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D011786:Quality Control; D031957:Ziziphus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005419:Flavonoids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011134:Polysaccharides