Precise structural characterization and therapeutic potential of a glucomannan polysaccharide from dried rhizome of plant Bletilla striata against ulcerative colitis.
Hou H, Li L, Islam T, Shi J, Hou M
Medicinal Plants
Hardy orchid (Bletilla striata) — the pleated-leaf, magenta-flowered plant already thriving in shaded temperate garden borders — stores a precisely mapped gut-healing compound in its tubers that outperformed expectations in mice with inflammatory bowel disease, putting a common ornamental squarely at the intersection of ethnobotany and emerging therapeutics.
Bletilla striata is a garden orchid whose underground roots have been used in Chinese herbal medicine for generations. Scientists carefully extracted a specific complex sugar from those roots, mapped its exact molecular shape for the first time, and fed it to mice with gut inflammation. The results were striking: the mice healed faster, grew more beneficial gut bacteria, and produced more of a fatty acid linked to intestinal health — all at doses that scaled predictably.
Key Findings
The glucomannan BSPN constitutes ~80% of total polysaccharide in Bletilla striata tubers, with a mannose-to-glucose ratio of 4:1 and molecular weight of 178 kDa — now fully structurally characterized for the first time.
BSPN significantly alleviated ulcerative colitis in mice in a dose-dependent manner, improving colon tissue integrity and upregulating gut enzyme genes (GH1/GH2).
Treatment boosted valeric acid levels by 69% and enriched beneficial gut bacteria including Faecalibaculum, Bacteroides, and Bifidobacterium species.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists extracted and precisely mapped a complex sugar molecule (glucomannan) from the underground tubers of Bletilla striata, a traditional Chinese medicinal orchid, and showed it significantly reduced gut inflammation in mice — offering a molecularly characterized candidate for treating ulcerative colitis.
Abstract Preview
Bletillae Rhizoma (Baiji), the dried tuber of Bletilla striata (Thunb.) Reichb.f. (BS), a traditional medicinal plant widely used in Chinese medicine. While polysaccharides from BS tuber (BSP) have...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Ancient DNA Reveals Pre-Columbian Amazonian Forest Management at Scale
Forests and fruits we romanticize as wild — including many plants now in our kitchens and gardens — may exist in their current abundance precisely because an...
Bletilla striata, known as hyacinth orchid or Chinese ground orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae, native to Japan, Korea, Myanmar (Burma), and China. It is most commonly found growing in clumps alongside grassy slopes with sandy soil.