According to the World Health Organization, women's breast cancer is among the most common cancers with 7.8 million diagnosed cases during 2016-2020 and encompasses 15 % of all female cancer-related mortalities. These mortality events from triple-negative breast cancer are a significant health issue worldwide calling for a continuous search of bioactive compounds for better cancer treatments. Historically, plants are important sources for identifying such new bioactive chemicals for treatments. Here we use high-throughput screening and mass spectrometry analyses of extracts from 100 plant species collected in Chinese ancient forests to detect novel bioactive breast cancer phytochemicals. First, to study the effects on viability of the plant extracts, we used a MTT and CCK-8 cytotoxicity assay employing triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) MDA-MB-231 and normal epithelial MCF-10A cell lines and cell cycle arrest to estimate apoptosis using flow cytometry for the most potent three speices. Based on these analyses, the final most potent extracts were from the Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) wood/root bark and Nigaki (Picrasma quassioides) wood/root bark. Then, 5 × 10⁶ MDA-MB-231 cells were injected subcutaneously into the right hind leg of nude mice and a tumour was allowed to grow before treatment for seven days. Subsequently, the four exposed groups received gavage extracts from Amur honeysuckle and Nigaki (Amur honeysuckle wood distilled water, Amur honeysuckle root bark ethanol, Nigaki wood ethanol or Nigaki root bark distilled water/ethanol (1:1) extracts) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), while the control group received only PBS. The tumour weight of treated nude mice was reduced significantly by 60.5 % within 2 weeks, while on average killing 70 % of the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells after 48 h treatment (MTT test). In addition, screening of target genes using the Swiss Target Prediction, STITCH, STRING and NCBI-gene database showed that the four plant extracts possess desirable activity towards several known breast cancer genes. This reflects that the extracts may kill MBD-MB-231 breast cancer cells. This is the first screening of plant extracts with high efficiency in 2 decades, showing promising results for future development of novel cancer treatments.

Biomass rapid pyrolysis technology is easy to implement in continuous production and industrial application, and has become one of the leading technologies in the field of world renewable energy development. Agricultural and forestry waste is an important resource of renewable energy in China. In general, abandoned leaves in forest areas cause serious waste of resources. Its utilization may help to settle the problems of energy deficiency and environment pollution. In this study, Aesculus chinensis Bunge leaves (A. Bunge) are used as the research object to study the pyrolysis and extract. The results showed that there are a lot of bioactive components in A. Bunge leaves extract, including acetamide, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, R-limonene, d-mannose, and dihydroxyacetone. The active components of A. Bunge leaves supply scientific evidence for the exploration and exploitation of this plant. The pyrolysis products of A. Bunge leaves are rich in organic acids, aldehydes, and ketones, which means that A. Bunge leaves can be used as a crude material for the manufacturing of bio-oil or bio-fuel. The pyrolysis products include batilol, pregnenolone, benzoic acid, butyrolactone, and propanoic acid, which can be used in biological medicine, chemical crude materials, and industrial raw material reagents. Therefore, A. Bunge leaves can be used as a good crude material for bio-oil or biofuel production. Combining A. Bunge leaves and fast pyrolysis methods can effectively solve the problem of forestry and agricultural residues in the future.

Biomass has been recognized as the most common source of renewable energy. In recent years, researchers have paved the way for a search for suitable biomass resources to replace traditional fossil fuel energy and provide high energy output. Although there are plenty of studies of biomass as good biomaterials, there is little detailed information about Staphylea holocarpa wood (S. holocarpa) as a potential bio-oil material. The purpose of this study is to explore the potential of S. holocarpa wood as a bio-oil. Nanocatalyst cobalt (II) oxide (Co₃O₄) and Nickel (II) oxide (NiO) were used to improve the production of bio-oil from S. holocarpa wood. The preparation of biofuels and the extraction of bioactive drugs were performed by the rapid gasification of nanocatalysts. The result indicated that the abundant chemical components detected in the S. holocarpa wood extract could be used in biomedicine, cosmetics, and biofuels, and have a broad industrial application prospect. In addition, nanocatalyst cobalt tetraoxide (Co₃O₄) could improve the catalytic cracking of S. holocarpa wood and generate more bioactive molecules at high temperature, which is conducive to the utilization and development of S. holocarpa wood as biomass. This is the first time that S. holocarpa wood was used in combination with nanocatalysts. In the future, nanocatalysts can be used to solve the problem of sustainable development of biological resources.

Energy is indispensable in human life and social development, but this has led to an overconsumption of non-renewable energy. Sustainable energy is needed to maintain the global energy balance. Lignocellulose from agriculture or forestry is often discarded or directly incinerated. It is abundantly available to be discovered and studied as a biomass energy source. Therefore, this research uses Staphylea holocarpa wood as feedstock to evaluate its potential as energy source. We characterized Staphylea holocarpa wood by utilizing FT–IR, GC–MS, TGA, Py/GC–MS and NMR. The results showed that Staphylea holocarpa wood contained a large amount of oxygenated volatiles, indicating that it has the ability to act as biomass energy sources which can achieve green chemistry and sustainable development.