Quantitative Analysis of Petasin and Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Leaves and Rhizomes of in situ Grown Petasites hybridus Plants

Abstract

Various locations in Switzerland were screened for Petasites hybridus plants with high petasin and low pyrrolizidine alkaloid content. The mean petasin content of the various populations ranged from 7.4 to 15.3 mg/g dry weight in rhizomes and from 3.3 to 11.4 mg/g dry weight in leaves. Mean pyrrolizidine alkaloid content in rhizomes ranged from 5 to 90ppm whereas leaves contained between 0.02 to 1.50 ppm. These results suggest that leaves might be a preferable source for harvesting compared to the underground organ due to the finding of high petasin contents and consistantly lower amounts of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

Key words

Petasites hybridus - Asteraceae - eremophilane sesquiterpene - pyrrolizidine alkaloids