title: Bitterness and antibacterial activities of constituents from Evodia rutaecarpa.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bitter herbs are important in Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Electronic Tongue (e-Tongue) is an instrument that can be trained to evaluate bitterness of bitter herbs and their constituents. The aim of this research was to evaluate bitterness of limonoids and alkaloids from Evodia rutaecarpa to demonstrate that they are main bitter material basic of E. rutaecarpa.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine compounds, including limonoids, indoloquinazoline alkaloids and quinolone alkaloids, were isolated, identified and analyzed by the e-Tongue. Additionally, the antibacterial activities of the nine compounds were evaluated against E. coli and S. aureus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the nine compounds had bitter taste and antibacterial activities to some extent. Among them, limonoids, which were the bitterest compounds, had greater antibacterial activities than alkaloids. And there is a positive correlation between bitter taste and antibacterial activities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was confirmed in our study that limonoids, indoloquinazoline alkaloids and quinolone alkaloids are main bitter material basic of E. rutaecarpa based on two evaluation methods of e-Tongue and antibacterial experiment. In addition, the e-Tongue technique is a suitable new method to measure bitter degree in herbs.
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of TCM, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Amway (China) R & D Center Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of TCM, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Amway (China) Botanical R & D Center Co., Ltd., Wuxi, 214115, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Tingzhao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of TCM, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Youjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of TCM, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of TCM, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China. ls7312@163.com.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D062609:Electronic Nose; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D032086:Evodia / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Antibacterial activity; Bitterness; Electronic Tongue; Evodia rutaecarpa