Research information and review on the leaves of Diospyros kaki L. I. Pharmacological activities of the extracts and main active ingredients of the leaves of Diospyros kaki L.

Persimmon (Diospyros species) distributed widely in China, Japan, Korea and Thailand. And they were classified into four ecotypes, according to their habitat; constantly humid area, alternately dry and wet area, mountainous cool area and all area. Persimmon leaves contain sugar, protein, flavonoids, amino acids, and vitamins. Persimmon leaf components have a wide range of pharmacological activity. Many studies have suggested that the flavonoids exhibit biological activities, including antiallergenic, antiviral, antiinflammatory, and vasodilating actions. Flavonoids have attracted public attention because flavonoids lessen the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It can be used to prepare drug for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, hypertension, coronary heart diseases. In the first part of this review, authors introduced and analyzed the relative literature on biological and pharmacological investigation on the extract of leaves of Diospyros kaki and its 7 kinds of flavonoid compounds, including astragalin, hyperin, quercetin, isoquercitin, myricetin, kaempferol and rutin. In order to understand the progress of the research on leaves of Diospyros kaki by scholars on the world, we reviewed major international literature database, and obtained thousands of relative articles. The retrieval results show that the research on biological active ingredients of persimmon leaves is a hot topic for an in-depth research. The result provided scientific evidence, and also enhanced the research interests.