Buddha's hand citron yields new compounds that may protect the liver
Medicinal Plants
The fragrant, finger-like citrus you might spot at an Asian grocery or grow as an ornamental in a warm-climate garden is turning out to hold chemistry that could matter for liver health, not just fragrance.
Researchers dug into Buddha's hand citron, that odd citrus fruit shaped like a bundle of yellow fingers, and found a set of new plant compounds called biflavonoids that nobody had described before. In early lab tests, these compounds showed signs of protecting liver cells from damage. It's early-stage chemistry work, but it adds one more reason this unusual citrus is worth more than its looks.
Key Findings
1
Researchers identified structurally diverse 12-methylene biflavonoid derivatives, a new class of compounds, from Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis (Buddha's hand citron).
2
The compounds showed hepatoprotective (liver-protecting) activity in experimental testing.
3
The finding expands the known chemical diversity of biflavonoids found in citrus plants.
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Technical Summary
Scientists isolated a group of never-before-seen compounds from Buddha's hand citron that showed protective effects on liver cells in lab tests, hinting at a new source for liver-protecting plant medicine.
Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis, or the fingered citron, is a citron variety whose fruit is segmented into finger-like sections, resembling those seen on representations of the Buddha. It is called Buddha's hand in many languages including English, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, ...
