Abstract:

The whole herbs of wild dandelion from the Changbai Mountain harvested at different periods were analyzed for thecontents of flavonoids, saponins and inositols as well as hypoglycemic effect with the aim of finding out the best harvesting periodfor better hypoglycemic effect of dandelion. The contents of flavonoids, saponins and inositols in dandelion, all of which wereextracted with ethanol from the plant, were determined. Besides, the hypoglycemic effect of decoctions of dandelion harvested atdifferent periods was investigated in mice with diabetes mellitus induced by alloxan. Results showed that dandelion between mid-July and mid-August had an excellent hypoglycemic effect, reaching the strongest level in late July by reducing blood sugar levelsin alloxan-diabetic mice by 49.3% within 15 days. Moreover, dandelion in late July contained 8.41 mg/g flavonoids, 0.41 mg/gsaponins, 15.90 mg/g myo-inositol and 4.95 mg/g D-chiral inositol.

Key words: Changbai Mountain, flavonoids, saponins, myo-inositol, D-chiral inositol