Abelmoschus manihot herb, also known as Aibika plant

Abelmoschus manihot is a flowering plant in the mallow family and also known as Sunset Muskmallow, Sunset Hibiscus, or Hibiscus Manihot. In Japanese, this plant is known as tororo aoi and is used to make neri, a starchy substance used in making Washi.

Composition
Abelmoschus manihot  herb has hibifolin. Hibifolin is the highest-content bioactive flavonoid of the flowers of this plant. This herb also has hyperoside.

Substances in the flower of this plant
Myricetin, cannabiscitrin, myricetin-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, glycerolmonopalmitate, 2, 4-dihydroxy benzoic acid, guanosine, adenosine, maleic acid, heptatriacontanoic acid, 1-triacontanol , tetracosane, beta-sitosterol, beta-sitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside.

Animal research

Bone health
Preventive effect of Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medik. on bone loss in the ovariectomised rats.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 May; Puel C, Mathey J, Kati-Coulibaly S, Davicco MJ, Lebecque P, Chanteranne B, Horcajada MN, Coxam V. Unité des Maladies Métaboliques et Micronutriments, INRA Theix, 63122 Saint Genès-Champanelle, France.
We investigated the ability of Abelmoschus manihot, a herbal medicine to prevent bone loss in ovariectomised rats. Female Wistar rats were sham operated (SH: 8) or ovariectomised (OVX: 24). On day 0, OVX rats were randomly assigned to groups as follows: eight received 10% Abelmoschus manihot leaves in their diet, eight were given 15% Abelmoschus manihot leaves and eight were untreated. Abelmoschus manihot consumption, at the dose of 15% in the diet, provided bone-sparing effects by improving both bone mineral density and BMC.

Mood
Protective Effect of Total Flavones of Abelmoschus manihot L. Medic Against Poststroke Depression Injury in Mice and Its Action Mechanism.
Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2009 February; Department of Pharmacology, Basic Medical College, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, People's Republic of China.
Flavones of Abelmoschus manihot L. Medic are the major active component isolated from this traditional Chinese herb. We investigated the protective effect of these flavones against poststroke depression injury in mice. These flavones had a protective effect against poststroke depression injury in mice. Cardioprotection involves the inhibition of lipid peroxidation.

Laboratory research
Fast and automated characterization of major constituents in rat biofluid after oral administration of Abelmoschus manihot extract using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and MetaboLynx.
Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2010 Jan. Jiangsu Key Laboratory for TCM Formulae Research, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210046, P.R. China.
In drug metabolism research, the setting up of a complex series of mass spectrometry experiments and the subsequent analysis of the large amounts of data produced are often time-consuming. In this paper, we describe a strategy using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/QTOFMS) with automated data analysis software (MetaboLynx) for fast analysis of the metabolic profile of flavonoids in Abelmoschus manihot. Rat plasma and urine samples collected 1 h and 0-12 h after oral administration of Abelmoschus manihot were analyzed by UPLC/QTOFMS within 15 min. The post-acquisition data were processed using MetaboLynx. With key parameters carefully set, MetaboLynx is able to show the presence of a wide range of metabolites with only a limited requirement for manual intervention and data interpretation time. A total of 16 and 38 metabolites were identified in plasma and urine compared with blank samples. The results indicated that methylation and glucuronidation after deglycosylation were the major metabolic pathways of flavonoid glycosides in Abelmoschus manihot. The present study provided important information about the metabolism of flavonoid glycosides in Abelmoschus manihot which will be helpful for fully understanding the mechanism of action of this herb.

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