Planta Med 2015; 81 - PA10
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1545139

Chemical variation of Sceletium tortuosum specimens – NMR fingerprinting and chemometric approach

NT Jambwa 4, J Zhao 1, A Viljoen 4, IA Khan 1, 2, 3
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research
  • 2Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  • 4Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

Sceletium tortuosum (L.) N.E. Br. (Mesembryanthemaceae) is a succulent plant, mainly found in South Africa. The plant has been traditionally used for treatment of CNS-associated conditions, for quenching thirst and relieving hunger. Various Sceletium products are currently marketed with claims of psychoactive properties, such as, mood uplifting and reduction of anxiety. Quality control has been a great challenge in dealing with botanicals. Safety and efficacy of botanical products are dependent on the chemical composition in the plant materials. The extent of phytochemical variation in S. tortuosum specimens collected from different locations in South Africa was investigated by using an NMR-based metabolomics approach in the present study. Significant metabolite variation was observed in the Sceletium plant samples. Geographic location appears to be one of factors that affect the metabolite variations.