Chemical Composition, Bioactivity and Safety Aspects of Kuding Tea—From Beverage to Herbal Extract

Abstract

Kuding tea (KT) is a bitter-tasting herbal tea that has been commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The large-leaved Ku-Ding-Cha (Aquifoliaceae) is composed of its representative species Ilex latifolia Thunb and Ilex kudingcha C.J. Tseng. Because of its potential lipid-lowering, body weight-reducing and blood-glucose-lowering properties, KT has increasingly been recognised for its importance over the past several decades. KT is no longer used only as a beverage, and various extraction methods have been applied to obtain aqueous and ethanolic KT extracts (KTE) or their fractions, which could potentially be used as dietary supplements. The major bioactive components of KT are triterpene saponins and polyphenols, but the composition of KT differs substantially between and among the different KT species. This in turn might affect the physiological effects of KT. KT exhibits antiobesity properties, possibly partly by affecting the intestinal microbiota. In addition, KT may mediate putative antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. However, there is evidence that high KTE supplementation can adversely affect liver metabolism. The physiological relevance of KT in humans remains rather unclear since the potential health benefits of KT and its constituents reviewed here are mainly derived on the basis of in vitro and animal studies.

Liver Injury Following Tinospora Cordifolia Consumption: Drug-Induced AIH, or de novo AIH?

“…The hydrolysis of PM plant glycosides during preparation is thought to affect toxicity (27). Other manufacturing methods and approach to extraction may affect the chemical composition, potency, and toxic potential of the phytochemicals within HDS, as has been shown with Kuding tea (Kudingcha), another popular agent in TCM (28). Chemical analysis of implicated HDS would seem to be a useful tool to identify a culprit ingredient for injury.…”

Determination of Polyphenols in Ilex kudingcha and Insect Tea (Leaves Altered by Animals) by Ultra-high-performance Liquid Chromatography-Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS) and Comparison of Their Anti-Aging Effects

“…It enhances detoxification, strengthens the stomach and digestion, and exerts free radical scavenging, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects (Zhao et al, 2018;Zhu et al, 2019;. In this study, We made statistics on the previous research reports (Lin C. S. et al, 2018;Svenja et al, 2020;Zhang W. et al, 2020;Zhu et al, 2019), obtained the active substances that may be contained in Ilex kudingcha and Insect tea, and established a database of biologically active ingredients. 33 bioactive components were detected in ITP and IKDCP by UHPLC-QqQ-MS, with the majority being chlorogenic acid and its isomers, as well as isoquercitrin, kaempferol, dihydroquercetin, naringin.…”

Special Issue “Dietary (Poly)Phenols and Health”

“…I am pleased that 19 papers published in this Special Issue [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], present novel findings and adhere to the above-mentioned current trends. I personally consider the fact, that some papers in this issue also reported negative or only mild effects of the tested compounds to be very important as well.…”

“…Current knowledge on sakuranetin, one of less explored flavanones, was also published in this issue [ 23 ]. Wüpper et al summarize available data on the chemical composition, pharmacological effects, and safety of Kuding tea, which contains polyphenolic compounds and triterpenic saponins [ 26 ]. A review on the composition and pharmacological activity of garlic mentions that flavonoids are also present in garlic [ 10 ].…”