Silychristin
Silychristin
Natural chemical compound
Silychristin (also known as silichristin) is a natural product and one of the constituents of silymarin, the standardized, active extract of the fruit of milk thistle, Silybum marianum.[1][2] It is the second most abundant constituent in silymarin, after silybin.[3] Silychristin is a flavonolignan, along with many other silymarin constituents (such as silybin, isosilybin, silydianin, etc.), meaning it is composed up of a flavonoid and a lignan.[3] It is estimated that up to 65–80% of silymarin extract is made up of flavonolignans, like silychristin, which give silymarin its well known potent antioxidant and hepatoprotective properties.[4][5] Silychristin can exist as two stereoisomers, silychristin A (2R, 3S) and silychristin B (2S, 3R). The marianum variety of S. marianum (purple corollas) includes silychristin A as a major flavonolignan constituent, while the lesser known and studied albiflorum variety (white corollas) includes unique flavonolignans, including silyhermin, (–)-silandrin, and (+)-silymonin.[6]