Objective: To study the chemical components of Astragalus englerianus, and to explore the active compounds of α-
glucosidase's inhibiting from the roots of Astragalus englerianus. Methods: The compounds were isolated and purified by Rp-18,
Sephadex LH-20 and silica gel column chromatography. Their structures were identified by modern spectroscopy techniques.
The α -glucosidase's inhibiting experiment was performed by using enzyme inhibitor screening model with 4-nitrophenol α -
D-glucopyranoside(PNPG)as the substrate. Results: Six compounds were isolated from ethyl acetate fraction of methanol extract
of the roots of A. englerianus and identified as 1- O- hexadecanolenin(1), 2,4'- dihydroxy- 4- methoxy dihydrochalcone(2),
daucosterol(3), 5α,6β- dihydroxy- daucosterol(4),(3R)- vestitol- 7- O- glucoside(5), and(2S,3S,4R,8E)- 2-[(2'R)- 2-
hydroxytetracosanoylamino]- 1,3,4- octadecanetriol- 8- ene(6). All of these compounds were examined for their α- glucosidase
inhibitory activities. As a result, compound 2 showed significantly activity with the lower IC50 than the positive control, acarbose.
Compound 5 and its aglucon,(3R)-vestitol also showed some inhibitory activity. Conclusion: All of the compounds were isolated from
the roots of A. englerianus for the first time, and the flavonoids showed the better α-glucosidase inhibitory activity than the other
compounds.