Glycosidic Flavonoids as Rat-Liver Injury Preventing Compounds from Green Tea

A glycosidic flavonoids-rich fraction from green tea leaves was purified to isolate five glycosidic flavonoids, guided by the detection of a preventive effect on D-galactosamine-induced liver injury in rats. These were identified as a flavone C-glycoside (1) and trisaccharide flavonols (2-5) based on the spectroscopic analyses. These compounds suppressed the D-galactosamine-induced increase of plasma alanine aminotransferase and asparatate aminotransferase activities in rats.