Chemical Constituents of Korean Chopi (Zanthoxylum piperitum) and Sancho (Zanthoxylum schinifolium)

Abstract

Zanthoxylum piperitum and Z. schinifolium have been utilized not only as food stuffs, but also as medicinal plants in Korea. In this study, lipids, sugar, amino acids and other components of Zanthoxylum piperitum and Z. schinifolium peels and seeds were analyzed by HPLC and GLC. Four samples contained common fatty acids such as linoleic, linolenic, palmitic, oleic and stearic acid. The contents of unsaturated fatty acids were 87.1% and 64.8% in Z. schinifolium peels and seeds, 73.6% and 62.9% in Z. piperitum peels and seeds, respectively. Z. schinifolium peels contained only beta-sitosterol, whereas other three samples contained campesterol, stigmasterol and beta-sitosterol. In case of free amino acids, peels of both species showed higher contents of acids than seeds of both species. Glutamic acid, aspartic acid, arginine, valine, and leucine were found in all four samples. Essential oils consisted of limonene (30.1-66.8%), beta-phellandrene (4.8-13.3%), citronellal (1.5-22%) and cineol (1.6-3.9%). It is worthwhile to note that the content of citronellal in Z. schinifolium seeds was higher than that of the others.