Medicine and Health Biochemical Engineering Laboratory
 Chinese Herbal Health Food/Medicine Development
Professor Jer-Yiing Houng
[email protected]
Research Direction and Topics
Chinese herbal medicines have significant biochemical activities to the human body, and they have been widely considered to be an
important source of manufacturing health food. However, the biochemical activities of many herbs are still lack of scientific validation. Our
lab focuses on: (1) establishment of different biochemical activity assessment methods (including chemical methods, enzymatic
methods, immunoassay, and cell culture methods), (2) separation of the bioactive ingredients and identification of their chemical
structures, (3) optimization of the extraction and separation methods (including organic solvent extraction and supercritical fluid
extraction), (4) investigation of their related mechanism or signaling pathway, (5) animal tests, and (6) food safety testing. In these years,
the targets being investigated in this lab include Glossogyne tenuifolia, Toona sinensis Roem, Typhonium blumei, Anisomeles indica and
Siegesbeckia orientalis. The biochemical activities examined focus on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, coronary artery disease prevention,
osteoporosis prevention and anticancer (including lung cancer, hepatoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer, brain malignant glioma and
endometrial cancer). The aims of these studies are the separation and identification of bioactive ingredients, validation of their
biochemical activities and efficacies, as well as the pharmacological and safety testing, so that they can be developed to be health food
or new drug. These studies are carried out by teamwork cooperation, including the stuffs of this university and the physicians of E-Da
Hospital in the fields of biochemical separation, nutrition, biochemistry, biotechnology and clinical expertise.