Isolation, purification and structure identification of antioxidant compound from the roots of Incarvillea younghusbandii Sprague and its life span prolonging effect in Drosophila melanogaster.

For the purpose of preventative treatment for oxidative stress-mediated diseases and anti-aging, a high-antioxidant compound was isolated from the roots of Incarvillea younghusbandii Sprague for the first time through silica gel column chromatography, reverse-phase C18 column chromatography and reverse-phase semi-preparative HPLC using a bioassay-guided fractionation technique, and was identified as acteoside by ESI-MS, GC-MS, 1D- and 2D-NMR. Feeding Drosophila melanogaster with acteoside, significant life span prolonging effect were achieved at the dosage range from 0.64 to 2.56 mg mL(-1). Positive relationships existed between the dosage and the life span prolonging effect. Otherwise, acteoside possess better life span prolonging effect in females than in males.