First isolation and identification of polyphenols from the halophyte Armeria maritima

While there is a rich bibliography concerning the chemical composition of some genus belonging to Plumbaginaceae family [1 – 2], secondary metabolites of Armeria genus have slightly been investigated. This phytochemical study concerns the halophyte Armeria maritima Willd., with a specific focus on phenolic compounds whose presence have already been reported in this species but whose structures have never been accurately identified [3].

A hydro-alcoholic extract prepared from dried aerial parts of A. maritima was first partitioned with water and cyclohexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and then n-butanol. Ethyl acetate and n-butanol parts, very rich in phenolic compounds according their TLC profiles, were then fractioned by RP-VLC and some complex fractions were also submitted to size exclusion chromatography (Sephadex LH20). The polyphenolic enriched fractions were then submitted to semi-preparative RP-HPLC. This approach and combination of LC-HR-ESI-TOF-MS and 1D and 2D NMR experiments led us to the isolation and identification of many phenolic compounds, such as phenolic acids (gallic, protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic and caffeic acids) and also flavonoid glycosides: myricetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, quercetin-3-O-(4"-O-acetyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, kaempferol-3-O-(6"-O-p-trans-coumaroyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside, myricetin-3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-> 6)-O-β-D-glucopyranoside]. All of them are firstly identified in this halophyte.

References:

[1] Lin LC & Chou CJ Flavonoids and Phenolics from Limonium sinense. Planta Med. 2000; 66: 382 – 383

[2] Gunaherath GM, KB Gunatilaka, AAL Sultanbawa, MUS Balasubramaniam S. 1,2(3)-Tetrahydro-3,3′-biplumbagin: A naphthalenone and other constituents from Plumbago zeylanica. Phytochemistry 1983; 22: 1245 – 1247

[3] Lauranson J, Vekemans X, Lefebvre C Jay M. Flavonoid profiles variation in Armeria maritima (Mill.) Willd. Biochem Syst Ecol 1995; 23: 319 – 329