*3.2. Sample Preparation*

The dried roots and rhizomes of *L. meyenii* (1000 g) were pulverized then sieved through a 20-mesh. The powder was extracted two times with 10 volumes of 95% ethanol (*v*/*v*) at 60 ◦C for 2 h. The filtrate was evaporated by a rotavapor at 60 ◦C and concentrated in vacuo to yield 24.32 g of brown residue. The residue (0.5 g) was further subjected to liquid-liquid partitioning to afford petroleum ether and water soluble extracts [25]. The resulting petroleum ether-soluble extract was applied to a silica gel column, and eluted with dichloromethane followed by (10:0 to 9:1, *v*/*v*) to give ten fractions (LM-P-1 to LM-P-10) [25]. The fraction was dissolved into 1 mL with acetonitrile and filtered with 0.22 μm filter membrane. The filtrate was used for HPLC analysis and testing of the proliferation of TM3.
