Prunetin is an
O-methylated isoflavone, a type of flavonoid. It has been isolated for the first time by Finnemore in 1910 in the bark of ''
Prunus emarginata
''Prunus emarginata'', the bitter cherry or Oregon cherry, is a species of ''Prunus'' native to western North America, from British Columbia south to Baja California, and east as far as western Wyoming and New Mexico. It is often found in recentl ...
'' (the Oregon cherry). Prunetin isolated from
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
roots can act as an attractant for ''
Aphanomyces euteiches
''Aphanomyces euteiches'' is a water mould, or oomycete, plant pathogen responsible for the disease Aphanomyces root rot. The species ''Aphanomyces euteiches'' can infect a variety of legumes. Symptoms of the disease can differ among hosts but ...
''
zoospore
A zoospore is a motile asexual spore that uses a flagellum for locomotion. Also called a swarm spore, these spores are created by some protists, bacteria, and fungi to propagate themselves.
Diversity Flagella types
Zoospores may possess one or mo ...
s. It is also an allosteric inhibitor of human liver
aldehyde dehydrogenase
Aldehyde dehydrogenases () are a group of enzymes that catalyse the oxidation of aldehydes. They convert aldehydes (R–C(=O)) to carboxylic acids (R–C(=O)). The oxygen comes from a water molecule. To date, nineteen ALDH genes have be ...
.
Prunetin can lower blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats and relax isolated rat aortic rings through calcium channel block mechanisms in vessel smooth muscles.
Glycosides
*
8-C-glucosyl prunetin, isolated from the leaves of ''
Dalbergia hainanensis
''Dalbergia'' is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Dalbergia'' clade (or tribe): the Dalbergieae. T ...
''
Conformational Study of 8-C-glucosyl-prunetin by Dynamic NMR Spectroscopy. Pei Cheng Zhang, Ying Hong Wang, Xin Liu, Xiang Yi, Ruo Yun Chen and De Quan Yu, Chinese Chemical Letters Vol. 13, No. 7, pp 645 – 648, 2002
See also
* List of phytochemicals in food
While there is ample evidence to indicate the health benefits of diets rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts, no specific food has been acknowledged by scientists and government regulatory authorities as providing a health bene ...
* Biochanin A
Biochanin A is an ''O''-methylated isoflavone. It is a natural organic compound in the class of phytochemicals known as flavonoids. Biochanin A can be found in red clover in soy, in alfalfa sprouts, in peanuts, in chickpea (''Cicer arietinum'' ...
References
O-methylated isoflavones
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