'Zao Huang' figs, known for their golden skin and high sugar content, are widely cultivated and highly valued in Xinjiang. Prenylated flavonoids (PFs) in figs are novel nutraceuticals with high bioactivity and safety profiles. Therefore, investigating the unique structures and bioactivity of fig PFs could potentially improve their commercial value and enhance their applications in functional foods.

The research group led by Prof. Haji Akber AISA from the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Chinese Academy of Science, proposed a high-resolution mass spectrometry strategy combined with feature-based molecular networking (FBMN) to guide the comprehensive isolation of PFs. Furthermore, the isolated flavonoids were subjected to comprehensive pharmacological evaluation and structure-activity relationships analysis. This work was published in Food Chemistry.

In this study, fifty PFs were targeted and isolated via FBMN analysis, including ten newly described structures. Five pairs of enantiomers were obtained using chiral separation, and their absolute configurations were determined for the first time. Furthermore, they found that antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects may play a collaborative role in the treatment of tuberculosis. Importantly, prenylation patterns played a pivotal role in modulating anti-tubercular activity.

The study introduces a methodology for PFs characterization and highlights the potential value in two key areas: the development of functional foods enriched with antioxidant phenolics and the discovery of novel therapeutic agents through the optimization of anti-inflammatory and anti-mycobacterial compounds.

The work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, the Tian-Shan Talent Program, and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Figure: Targeted characterization of bioactive prenylated flavonoids from figs (Image by Prof. Haji Akber AISA′ group)