Antioxidants and α -glucosidase inhibitors from “Liucha” (young leaves and shoots of Sibiraea laevigata )

The young leaves and shoots of Sibiraea laevigata, known as Liucha, are used as tea by Tibetans to improve digestion after meals. Long-term consumption of Liucha will cause weight loss. In present work, we reported on the isolation and NMR and chemical analysis-based elucidation of seven new sorbitol O-caffeic acid ester derivatives named sorbitol esters A-G (1-7) and eighteen known phenolic compounds from S. laevigata. All of the isolates were evaluated for their antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Among them sorbitol ester A (1), sorbitol ester D (4), sorbitol ester F (6), sorbitol ester G (7), isoferulic acid (15), methyl caffeate (18), trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid (19), and kaempferol 3-O-β-d-(6″-E-p-coumaroyl)-glucopyranoside (25) showed more potent α-glucosidase inhibitory activity than the clinical drug acarbose.