Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Senecio species from the urban area of Vienna (Austria)

Senecio species (Asteraceae) are poisonous plants due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids present in all plant parts. Here is reported the alkaloid distribution in the different above ground plant organs from Senecio erraticus Bertol., S. inaequidens DC, S. jacobea L., S. vernalis Waldst. & Kit. and S. vulgaris L. collected during summer from various habitats in the urban area of Vienna, Austria to get actual data about the alkaloid contents of these plants. The dried plants were separated in stems, leaves and inflorescences, ground and extracted with methanol/HCl. After reduction with Zn dust and extraction with dichloromethane the alkaloids were analysed by GC/MS [1]. All investigated species contained macrocyclic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. The identified alkaloids were senecivernine, senecionine, seneciphylline, integerrimine, retrorsine, usaramine, erucifoline and acetyl-erucifoline. The highest alkaloid contents were found in the inflorescences where total contents up to 10mg/g DM could be recorded. Inflorescences representing 35% of the plant dry matter contained about 80% of the total alkaloids of the plant.

Acknowledgements: We gratefully thank Mrs. H. Michitsch, Mrs. N. Kopf and Mr. Patrick Zwickl for their technical assistance

References: 1. Witte, L. et al. (1992) Phytochemistry 31, 559–565.