Cyclopia subternata plants are traditionally used for the production of the South African herbal tea, honeybush, and recently as aqueous extracts for the food industry. A C. subternata aqueous extract and mangiferin (a major constituent) are known to have anti-diabetic properties. Variation in phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity is expected due to cultivation largely from seedlings, having implications for extract standardization and quality control. Aqueous extracts from 64 seedlings of the same age, cultivated under the same environmental conditions, were analyzed for individual compound content, total polyphenol (TP) content and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in a number of assays. An HPLC method was developed and validated to allow quantification of xanthones (mangiferin, isomangiferin), flavanones (hesperidin, eriocitrin), a flavone (scolymoside), a benzophenone (iriflophenone-3-C-β-glucoside) and dihydrochalcones (phloretin-3',5'-di-C-β-glucoside, 3-hydroxyphloretin-3',5'-di-C-hexoside). Additional compounds were tentatively identified using mass spectrometric detection, with the presence of the 3-hydroxyphloretin-glycoside, an iriflophenone-di-O,C-hexoside, an eriodictyol-di-C-hexoside and vicenin-2 being demonstrated for the first time. Variability of the individual phenolic compound contents was generally higher than that of the TP content and TAC values. Among the phenolic compounds, scolymoside, hesperidin and iriflophenone-3-C-β-glucoside contents were the most variable. A combination of the measured parameters could be useful in product standardization by providing a basis for specifying minimum levels.

Risk factors of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) cluster together and are termed the metabolic syndrome. Key factors driving the metabolic syndrome are inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance (IR), and obesity. IR is defined as the impairment of insulin to achieve its physiological effects, resulting in glucose and lipid metabolic dysfunction in tissues such as muscle, fat, kidney, liver, and pancreatic β-cells. The potential of rooibos extract and its major C-glucosyl flavonoids, in particular aspalathin, a C-glucoside dihydrochalcone, as well as the phenolic precursor, Z-2-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-3-phenylpropenoic acid, to prevent the metabolic syndrome, will be highlighted. The mechanisms whereby these phenolic compounds elicit positive effects on inflammation, cellular oxidative stress and transcription factors that regulate the expression of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism will be discussed in terms of their potential in ameliorating features of the metabolic syndrome and the development of serious metabolic disease. An overview of the phenolic composition of rooibos and the changes during processing will provide relevant background on this herbal tea, while a discussion of the bioavailability of the major rooibos C-glucosyl flavonoids will give insight into a key aspect of the bioefficacy of rooibos.