Since the beginning of this century, Goji berries and juice are being sold as health food products in western countries and praised in advertisements and in the media for well-being and as an anti-aging remedy. The popularity of Goji products has rapidly grown over the last years thanks to efficient marketing strategies. Goji is a relatively new name given to Lycium barbarum and L. chinense, two close species with a long tradition of use as medicinal and food plants in East Asia, in particular in China. While only L. barbarum is officinal, the fruit (fructus Lycii) and the root bark (cortex Lycii radicis) of both species are used in the folk medicine. We review here the constituents, pharmacology, safety, and uses of L. barbarum and L. chinense with consideration to the different parts of the plant. Investigations of the fruit have focused on proteoglycans, known as “Lycium barbarum polysaccharides”, which showed antioxidative properties and some interesting pharmacological activities in the context of age related diseases such as atherosclerosis and diabetes. As to the root bark, several compounds have demonstrated a hepatoprotective action as well as inhibitory effects on the rennin/angiotensin system which may support the traditional use for the treatment of hypertension. While there are no signs of toxicity of this plant, two cases of possible interaction with warfarin point to a potential risk of drug interaction. In view of the available pharmacological data and the long tradition of use in the traditional Chinese medicine, L. barbarum and L. chinense certainly deserve further investigation. However, clinical evidences and rigorous procedures for quality control are indispensable before any recommendation of use can be made for Goji products.

Bryophyllum pinnatum is a succulent perennial plant native to Madagascar which is used in anthroposophical medicine to treat psychiatric disorders and as a tocolytic agent to prevent premature labour. We performed a metabolite profiling study in order to obtain a comprehensive picture of the constituents in B. pinnatum leaves and to identify chromatographic markers for quality control and safety assessment of medicinal preparations. Preliminary HPLC-PDA-ESIMS analyses revealed that flavonoid glycosides were the main UV-absorbing constituents in the MeOH extract of B. pinnatum. Two phenolic glucosides, syringic acid β-D-glucopyranosyl ester (1) and 4′-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-cis-p-coumaric acid (2), as well as nine flavonoids (3-11) including kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin, acacetin, and diosmetin glycosides were unambiguously identified by ¹H and 2D NMR analysis after isolation from a MeOH extract. The flavonol glycosides quercetin 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3) and myricetin 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (4) were new natural products. With the aid of HPLC-PDA-APCIMS and authentic references isolated from the related species B. daigremontianum, the presence of four bufadienolides, bersaldegenin-1-acetate (12), bryophyllin A (13), bersaldegenin-3-acetate (14), and bersaldegenin-1,3,5-orthoacetate (15) was detected in B. pinnatum.

A quantitative assay for determination of the main bufadienolides bersaldegenin-1-acetate (1), bersaldegenin-3-acetate (2), bryophyllin A (3), and bersaldegenin-1,3,5-orthoacetate (4) in Bryophyllum pinnatum leaves and manufactured products was developed and validated. The assay involved extraction by pressurised liquid extraction, followed by quantification by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy. The ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy method was applied to various batches of leaves harvested on several dates from plants grown at two locations (Brazil and Germany). In addition, press juices prepared from plants cultivated in Germany and Brazil were analysed. The total bufadienolide content ranged from 16.28 to 40.50 mg/100 g dry weight in leaves from plants grown in Brazil. The total content of these four bufadienolides was significantly lower in plants cultivated in Germany (3.78–12.49 mg/100 g dry weight, resp.). The total amounts of bufadienolides were 0.091–0.163 mg/100 mL and 0.89–1.16 mg/100 mL in press juices obtained from plants cultivated in Germany and Brazil, respectively. When analysing single leaves from individual plants, the content of bufadienolides was markedly higher in young leaves. For comparative purposes, the content of these bufadienolides was also determined in Bryophyllum daigremontianum and Bryophyllum tubiflorum. Bersaldegenin-1,3,5-orthoacetate (4) was predominant in the leaves of B. daigremontianum and in the stems of B. tubiflorum, while the leaves of B. tubiflorum contained very low amounts of 1–4. ^* Dedicated to Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Adolf Nahrstedt on the occasion of his 75th birthday.