Dragon’s blood (血竭) is a traditional Chinese medicine known for its wound hemostasis, blood circulation, and stasis properties. Recently, it has also been utilized in cosmetics, though its antioxidant capacity remains unclear. This study aims to stabilize the bioactivity of dragon’s blood using various plant extracts. We evaluated single plant extracts and their combinations to identify the conditions that maintained the antioxidant capacity of dragon’s blood the longest. Selected plants included Hibiscus sabdariffa, Clitoria ternatea, Hylocereus sp., Pandanus amaryllifolius, and Camellia sinensis. We used two sources of dragon’s blood: Daemonorops draco and Dracaena cochinchinensis. Extraction conditions were optimized and antioxidant activity was assessed using the free radical scavenging ability of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), total anthocyanin concentration (TAC), total polyphenol content (TPC), the free radical scavenging activity of ABTS, and a ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. The results showed that all plant extracts exhibited high antioxidant capacity. Clitoria ternatea had the highest DPPH scavenging ability at 93.81%, with the best combination being green tea and Daemonorops draco at 92.57%. Clitoria ternatea had the highest TPC at 9921 mg GAE/100 g, with the best combination (green tea and Dracaena cochinchinensis) at 10500 mg GAE/100 g. ABTS activity was highest for green tea at 98.3%, with the best combination (Clitoria ternatea and Daemonorops draco) at 93.29%. The FRAP assay showed that green tea had the highest electron-donating potential at 3.85 mg/mL, with the best combination (Daemonorops draco and Dracaena cochinchinensis) at 3.71 mg/mL. This study advances our understanding of the antioxidant properties of these plants and the traditional Chinese medicine dragon’s blood, enhancing the efficacy of dragon’s blood in skincare and cosmetics. Moreover, the application of these extracts could rejuvenate local agriculture, impacting the skincare, cosmetics, and sustainable agriculture sectors.

The plant genus Cinnamomum contains economically important evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. Our study tree species Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kaneh. (CO) has high economic value in Taiwan. The present study attempts to identify the gene resources of Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kaneh. by analyzing the nucleotide sequences of the partial noncoding internal transcribed spacer 2 (pITS2) of the ribosomal DNA and the trnL-trnF chloroplast genome. Seventy-three geographical strains of Cinnamomum osmophloeum, preserved in the Lien Hua-Chin Research Center of the Forestry Research Institute and the Hua-Lin Forestry Center of Chinese Culture University, were collected and analyzed by PCR amplification and DNA sequencing to study the genetic diversity and nucleotide sequence polymorphisms of the tested specimens. Our results allowed us to accurately identify the lineage of Cinnamomum osmophloeum and to conclude that the strains belonging to the Lien Hua-Chin Research Center had much higher genetic diversity than those preserved in the Hua-Lin Forestry Center. Multiple sequence alignments demonstrated that the variability of the nucleotide sequence polymorphisms for the pITS2 region was higher than those of the trnL intron and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer (IGS) regions among the 73 tested specimens of Cinnamomum osmophloeum. Cluster analyses, using the neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony methods, for the 73 tested geographical strains of Cinnamomum osmophloeum and species of Cinnamomum registered in the GenBank and EMBL databases were performed to demonstrate the genus and species distribution of the samples. Here, we describe the use of pITS2 polymorphisms as a genetic classifier and report the establishment of a DNA sequence database for CO gene resource identification. The sequence database described in this study can be used to identify CO specimens at the inter- or intraspecies level using pITS2 DNA sequences, which illustrates its value in gene resource identification. Our study results can be used further for correctly identifying the true Cinnamomum osmophloeum Kaneh.

This study examines host plant use and larval performance in Actias ningpoana ningtaiwana (Taiwanese Chinese moon moth) across ten native and cultivated tree species in Taiwan. Larval performance was assessed by measuring growth rate, developmental time, and survival across instars under controlled feeding trials. Results revealed significant interspecific variation in host suitability. Larvae developed most rapidly and successfully on Liquidambar formosana, while Pyracantha koidzumii and Lagerstroemia speciosa failed to support early instar survival. A negative correlation between developmental duration and survival suggests that faster development may enhance larval fitness. We propose the Bankruptcy at the End of Month hypothesis to describe a recurring pattern of delayed mortality observed in some host treatments. Under this framework, larvae experiencing suboptimal nutrition may survive early and middle instars, yet encounter physiological failure in the final instar due to cumulative resource deficits. Although the phenomenon of late-stage mortality from early nutritional limitations is recognized in insect ecology, this hypothesis provides a heuristic model to describe such patterns in an ecologically relevant context. It emphasizes that early-stage survival does not necessarily predict overall developmental success, particularly in variable or marginal host environments. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of host plant suitability, larval resource allocation, and developmental bottlenecks in herbivorous insects, with practical implications for forest management and plant–insect interaction studies.