Chamaecyparis Obtusa Water
Chamaecyparis obtusa (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; Japanese: 檜 or 桧, hinoki) is a species of cypress native to central Japan.
It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown. The leaves are scale-like, 2-4 mm long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The cones are globose, 8-12 mm diameter, with 8-12 scales arranged in opposite pairs. The related Chamaecyparis pisifera (Sawara Cypress) can be readily distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves and smaller cones.
Benefits
According to a Recent Study–
- The antioxidant activity and delayed aging effects of hot water extracts from leaves of Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana were investigated. Free radical, superoxide radical scavenging, and total phenolic content assays were employed to evaluate the in vitro activities of the extracts. In addition, in vivo assays using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans were also performed in this study. The results showed that among all soluble fractions obtained from the extracts, the ethyl acetate-soluble fraction has the best in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activities. Moreover, it decreased significantly the deposition of lipofuscin (aging pigment) and extended the lifespan of C. elegans. Bioactivity-guided fractionation yielded six potent antioxidant constituents from the ethyl acetate-soluble fraction, namely, catechin, quercetin, quercetin-3-O-α-rhamnoyranoside, myricetin-3-O-α-rhamnoyranoside, vanillic acid, and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. Quercetin-3-O-α-rhamnoyranoside pretreatment showed the highest survival of C. elegans upon juglone exposure.
- Taken together, the results revealed that hot water extracts from C. obtusa var. formosana leaves have the potential to be used as a source for antioxidant or delayed aging health food.
References
Source: J Agric Food Chem. 2014 May 7;62(18):4159-65. doi: 10.1021/jf500842v. Epub 2014 Apr 28.
-“Antioxidant activity and delayed aging effects of hot water extract from Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana leaves.”
-Cheng SC1, Li WH, Shi YC, Yen PL, Lin HY, Liao VH, Chang ST., www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24766147