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(1) Background: Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) is an aquatic plant with a long history and ornamental, edible, medicinal, and commercial value. All parts of the lotus are important “homologous and different effects” medicinal herbs as distinct parts of the same plant with different medicinal effects. (2) Methods: Six representative medicinal parts of lotus were selected, i.e., the lotus flower (Nelumbinis Flos, Flo), lotus petiole (Nelumbinis Petiolus, Pet), lotus seedpod (Nelumbinis Receptaculum, Rec), lotus stamen (Nelumbinis Stamen, Sta), lotus seed (Nelumbinis Semen, Sem), and lotus plumule (Nelumbinis Plumula, Plu), and analyzed via UPLC-MS/MS for metabolite profiling and RNA sequencing for gene expression. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified several transcription factor families related to flavonoid synthesis. (3) Results: Distinct metabolite accumulation and gene expression patterns were observed, particularly in the flavonoid synthesis pathway. Key findings included important metabolic profiles in stamens, high flavonoid content in light-exposed tissues, and functional differentiation in seeds and plumules. The discovered transcription factor families are essential for flavonoid biosynthesis and contribute to molecular breeding and resource utilization. (4) Conclusion: This study provides an important theoretical basis for molecular breeding of lotus, quality control of medicinal materials, and the rational use of resources obtained from different medicinal parts of lotus. Full article

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (lotus) is an important medicinal plant, and many parts of the plant have been investigated for their therapeutic effects. However, the therapeutic effect of receptacles of lotuses on pathological cardiomyocyte hypertrophy has not been investigated yet. Therefore, the current study aimed to determine the protective effect of lotus against angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vitro. Ang II was used to induce hypertrophy of H9c2 cells. The lotus receptacle powder (MeOH extract of receptaculum Nelumbinis; MRN) used in the experiments was prepared by MeOH extraction and subsequent evaporation. To evaluate the effect of MRN on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, cell size, protein synthesis, and hypertrophic marker expressions were examined. The antioxidant ability of MRN was determined by using CM-H₂DCFDA, a general oxidative stress indicator. Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was significantly attenuated by 5 µg/mL of MRN, as confirmed by the reductions in cell size, protein synthesis, and hypertrophic marker expression. MRN also attenuated Ang II-induced excessive intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production through the suppression of protein kinase C (PKC), extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and NF-κB activation and subsequent type I angiotensin receptor (AT1R), receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), and NADPH oxidase (NOX) expression. MRN exerted a significant protective effect against Ang II-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy through suppression of PKC–ERK signaling, and this subsequently led to attenuation of intracellular ROS production. Full article

A simple and reliable method of high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) was developed to evaluate the quality of Receptaculum Nelumbinis (dried receptacle of Nelumbo nucifera) through establishing chromatographic fingerprint and simultaneous determination of five flavonol glycosides, including hyperoside, isoquercitrin, quercetin-3-O-β-d-glucuronide, isorhamnetin-3-O-β-d-galactoside and syringetin-3-O-β-d-glucoside. In quantitative analysis, the five components showed good regression (R > 0.9998) within linear ranges, and their recoveries were in the range of 98.31%–100.32%. In the chromatographic fingerprint, twelve peaks were selected as the characteristic peaks to assess the similarities of different samples collected from different origins in China according to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) requirements. Furthermore, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was also applied to evaluate the variation of chemical components among different sources of Receptaculum Nelumbinis in China. This study indicated that the combination of quantitative and chromatographic fingerprint analysis can be readily utilized as a quality control method for Receptaculum Nelumbinis and its related traditional Chinese medicinal preparations. Full article

The antioxidant activities of ethanolic crude extract (ECE) and its four different solvent sub-fractions (namely, petroleum ether fraction (PEF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF), n-butanol fraction (BF) and the aqueous fraction (AF) from the receptacles of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Receptaculum Nelumbinis) were investigated using two in vitro antioxidant assays. BF showed the highest total phenolic content (607.6 mg/g gallic acid equivalents), total flavonoid content (862.7 mg/g rutin equivalents) and total proanthocyanidin content (331.0 mg/g catechin equivalents), accompanied with the highest antioxidant activity compared to other fractions through 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging assays. Five flavonol glycosides, namely hyperoside (1), isoquercitrin (2), quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucuronide (3), isorhamnetin-3-O-β-D-galactoside (4) and syringetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside (5) were isolated from the Receptaculum Nelumbinis. Compounds 2–5 were isolated for the first time from the Receptaculum Nelumbinis. The five isolated flavone glycosides, particularly compounds 1–3, demonstrated significant DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity, with IC₅₀ values of 8.9 ± 0.2, 5.2 ± 0.2, 7.5 ± 0.1 for DPPH and 114.2 ± 1.7, 112.8 ± 0.8, 172.5 ± 0.7 µg/mL for ABTS, respectively. These results suggest that Receptaculum Nelumbinis has strong antioxidant potential and may be potentially used as a safe and inexpensive bioactive source of natural antioxidants. Full article