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Research Areas

Areas of expertise: Medicinal plant cultivation and applications, secondary metabolites chemistry, and functionality of natural products
　
Research Focus 
My research program focuses on the chemistry and bio-functions of plant and fungal secondary metabolites. I employ multidisciplinary approaches coupled with developing novel methods (both experimental and theoretical) to study the metabolic system of specific products (metabolites) production in crops, medicinal plants and fungi, as well as elucidating the chemical structures and the mechanism(s) of action of phytochemicals that exhibit anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer and antioxidant activities. Techniques employ comprising the utilization of RT-PCR, Western blotting, flow cytometry, 2D-gel electrophoresis, HPLC, HPLC-MS and others. Our present research programs comprise:
　
 1. Bioactive secondary metabolite production in medicinal plants
The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of environmental factors (e.g. nutrients, microorganism, soil conditions, light, etc.) on the production of bioactive principles, the biomass yield and quality of raw medicinal plant materials. Because most of the plant active principles are either biosynthesized or accumulated in a specific organ or tissue, any environmental factor that influences the ratio of those organs or tissues to the total biomass of the plant will consequently affect the quality of the biomass, and the biosynthetic capability of the plant. Therefore, through the characterization and redirection of metabolic systems, we may improve the cellular processes to optimize the production of pharmaceuticals in the plant-based systems.
　
2. Analysis and pharmacological evaluations of biofunctional chemicals
The objective of this research is to understand and to analyze the functional chemicals (i.e. tocotrienols, polyphenols, polysaccharides, etc) from natural products. Emphasis of research is on identifying the elite varieties which possess distinctive functional chemicals from crops, medicinal plants and fungi, followed by quantitative analysis, chemical structure elucidation and pharmacological evaluation of these phytochemicals. Results obtained will provide valuable information for the development of high quality functional products.  
　
 3. Natural product discovery and product standardization
The major aim of this research is to conduct biological screening, to isolate, identify and characterize compounds from medicinal resources that can serve as index compounds for standardization of natural products or validating the traditional claims of folk medicines. Other important research activities include: (1) the optimization of extraction techniques, (2) development of fractionation protocols and separation methods that permit isolation of minute quantities of bioactive substances from plant complex biomass, and (3) the characterization of pharmaco-mechanistic properties of extracts and isolated compounds.