TITLE	Variation in camptothecin content in Camptotheca acuminata leaves
AUTHOR	Xiu-Feng Yan Faculty of Forest Resources and Environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, P.R. China Yang Wang Faculty of Forest Resources and Environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, P.R. China Tao Yu Faculty of Forest Resources and Environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, P.R. China Yu-Hong Zhang Key Laboratory for Forest Plant Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, P.R. China Shao-Jun Dai Faculty of Forest Resources and Environment, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, P.R. China
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ABSTRACT	Variations in camptothecin (CPT) content in relation to leaf characteristics namely leaf area, leaf biomass, and specific leaf area (leaf area divided by leaf biomass), and the influence of climatic factors on CPT content in saplings of Camptotheca acuminata Decne. were studied. Leaf area and CPT content showed a logarithmic relationship in young leaves similar to that between leaf biomass and CPT content, while CPT content was linearly correlated to specific leaf area. There was no apparent relationship between each leaf characteristic and CPT content in old leaves. CPT contents in sapling leaves showed large variation from May to September and were highly correlated to the variation in the level of climatic factors, where high average temperature, high evaporation capacity and low precipitation increased CPT content according to stepwise regression analysis. This suggests that adverse growing conditions can induce CPT accumulation to enhance chemical defense in C. acuminata. Young leaves with area of 70 cm2-100 cm2 gave the highest quantity of CPT per leaf, thus the optimal harvest period would be when young leaves expanded to these sizes. In addition, sample collection on dry days is preferable as it increases CPT content in raw materials.
KEYWORD	Camptothecin; Camptotheca acuminata leaves; CPT optimization;
ARTICLE INFO	Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Volume 44 Number 2 April 2003, page 99-105, 7 pages
PUBLISHER	Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China