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Miroestrol is a chromene with potent estrogenic activity present in , commonly known as White Kwao Krua. Although this compound is only present in low amounts in the plant, it plays an important role in the estrogenic action of products. As a tool for further studies about the efficacy and safety of as a phytoestrogenic supplement, we generated a novel monoclonal antibody against miroestrol. This anti-miroestrol monoclonal antibody was used to develop an immunoassay for the determination of miroestrol content, which can be used for quality control purposes of. The developed ELISA against miroestrol has a calibration range of 10-780 ng/mL miroestrol, a limit of detection of 3.5 ng/mL, and a limit of quantitation of 12.2 ng/mL. According to the validation analysis, the established ELISA is precise, accurate, specific, and sensitive for miroestrol detection in plants. Furthermore, the anti-miroestrol monoclonal antibody was used to prepare an immunoaffinity column for the isolation of miroestrol from the tuberous root of . The column provides a simple procedure for miroestrol isolation, with a capacity of 3.91 µg of miroestrol per 1 mL of immunogel.

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Methyl jasmonate, 50 microM, 0.5 mg yeast extract/l and 100 mg chitosan/l stimulated plumbagin production in Drosera burmanii whole plant cultures after 6 days of elicitation. Yeast extract (0.5 mg/l) was the most efficient enhancing plumbagin production in roots of D. burmanii to 8.8 +/- 0.5 mg/g dry wt that was 3.5-fold higher than control plants.

A single-chain variable fragment antibody (scFv) against ginsenoside Re (G-Re) was constructed and applied to an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determining the total concentration of ginsenosides in various ginsengs. The variable heavy and light chain genes were cloned directly from the cDNA of the 4G10 hybridoma cell line and assembled by means of splicing by overlapping extension PCR (SOE-PCR) using specific primers designed to have flexible peptide (Gly(4)Ser)(3) between the variable heavy chain and light chain domains. The constructed scFv gene was ligated into the pET28a expression vector and transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant scFv against G-Re (GRe-scFv) was expressed as a chimera protein containing the His6-tag at its N-termini, purified by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC), and refolded by a stepwise dialysis method. The yield of GRe-scFv after purification was 1.7 mg per liter of culture medium. Characterization of GRe-scFv revealed that it retained the characteristics of the parental monoclonal antibody (MAb) against G-Re (MAb-4G10) which has wide cross-reactivity with 20(S)-protopanaxadiol- and 20(S)-protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides. The detectable range for G-Re in ELISA using scFv antibody was 0.02-10 µg/ml. Based on validation analysis, the use of GRe-scFv in ELISA is a precise, accurate, and sensitive method. In light of the time-consuming and labor-intensive procedures for the preparation of MAb, speedy bacterial expression of GRe-scFv is a powerful alternative tool for producing MAb to use in ELISA for quantitative analysis of total ginsenoside concentrations.

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Miroestrol and deoxymiroestrol are the most potent phytoestrogens of Pueraria candollei var. mirifica, having been proved as an effective herb for menopausal symptoms in folk medicines and clinical trials. To ensure efficacy and safety of P. candollei var. mirifica involved in nutraceutical products being available worldwide, the content of potent phytoestrogens as active ingredients should be specified. Therefore, in this study, we produced a monoclonal antibody for total analysis of potent estrogenic miroestrol and deoxymiroestrol, for which an analytical method was developed using a procedure for an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The antibody exhibited equal reactivity against miroestrol and deoxymiroestrol. The sensitivity of determination was in the range of 31.3-500 ng/ml with high precision. The analytical parameters, such as accuracy (99.6-106% recovery) and high correlation with a HPLC-UV method, indicated the reliability of analysis. This method is of high performance, and it is cheap to control optimal miroestrol and deoxymiroestrol doses of P. candollei var. mirifica nutraceutical products.