Caffeic acid is a yellow crystalline substance that naturally exists in traditional Chinese medicine plants such as Artemisia annua, thistle and honeysuckle, generally in the form of ester and glucoside. It is understood that caffeic acid is not only the metabolite of lignin synthesis pathway, but also the intermediate product of phenylpropane metabolism pathway in tobacco, which is widely used in medicine and other fields.
Caffeic acid can be synthesized by condensation, demethylation and hydrolysis of 3, 4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 3, 4-dimethoxy-benzaldehyde, 3, 4-methylene benzaldehyde and substituted cinnamate esters.
Caffeic acid in the health-care industry can perform a variety of functions, such as antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anticancer, such as immune regulation, used for various prevention and control of bleeding symptoms in cancer, cancer disease, also can play a positive role in treatment, and caffeic acid in tobacco leaves, is an important index for quality of tobacco leaf, it exists as the phenolics in tobacco, in the production of tobacco, Caffeic acid plays a key role in color, aroma and quality. Therefore, caffeic acid can be used to judge the quality of tobacco leaves.
