Planta Med 2010; 76 - P391
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264689

Comparative study of rosmarinic acid content in Satureja species

H Hajimehdipoor 1, M Shekarchi 2, S Saeidnia 3, A Gohari 3, Z Abedi 2
  • 1Traditional Medicine and Materia Medica Research Center and School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Po. Box: 14155–6359. Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic Of
  • 2Food and Drug Laboratory Research Center and Food and Drug Control Laboratories, MOH & ME, Imam Khomeini St., 1113615911 Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic Of
  • 3Medicinal Plants Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Enghelab St., 10115 Tehran, Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Satureja species are used in traditional medicine and phytotherapy mostly in gastrointestinal disorders. This genus is rich in essential oil and phenolic compounds. Rosmarinic acid which is found in this genus exhibits important biological activities such as antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti HIV properties [1–3]. In this investigation, rosmarinic acid content of different Satureja species which grow in various parts of Iran was determined by using HPLC method. Aerial parts of six Satureja species named S. hortensis, S. khuzestanica, S. bakhtiarica, S. atropa, S. mutica and S. macranta were collected, identified, dried and milled. 200mg of each plant was extracted by using water, methanol and 2- propranol in a ratio of 80:10:10 as solvent. O-phosphoric acid (0.085%) was added to the solvent subsequently. The HPLC was performed by using C18 column. The mobile phase was the same as extraction solvent with gradient mode. UV spectra were collected across the range of 200–900nm, extracting 330nm for the chromatograms. The results showed that the HPLC method could separate rosmarinic acid from other components of the plants efficiently. By using above-mentioned method, rosmarinic acid content inSatureja species was found 0.12–1.90% in dried plants. The highest amount of the rosmarinic acid was found in S. mutica, whereas S. khuzestanica contained the lowest content of rosmarinic acid.

References: 1. Toth, J. et al. (2003) Acta Facultatis Pharmaceuticae Universitatis Comenianae 139–145.

2. Petersen, M. et al. (2003) Phytochemistry 62: 121–125.

3. Swarup, V. et al. (2007) Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 3367–3370.