Planta Med 2023; 89(03): 324-332
DOI: 10.1055/a-1939-7473
Natural Product Chemistry & Analytical Studies
Original Papers

Phytochemical Characterization of Phitosia crocifolia, a Monotypic Representative of Greek Flora

Christina Barda
1   Department of Pharmacognosy & Chemistry of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Athens, Greece
2   Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Chemistry, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
,
Alexia Tzoumaka
1   Department of Pharmacognosy & Chemistry of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Athens, Greece
,
Maria-Eleni Grafakou
1   Department of Pharmacognosy & Chemistry of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Athens, Greece
,
Eleutherios Kalpoutzakis
1   Department of Pharmacognosy & Chemistry of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Athens, Greece
,
Joerg Heilmann
2   Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Chemistry, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
,
1   Department of Pharmacognosy & Chemistry of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Athens, Greece
› Author Affiliations
Supported by: Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation 16274

Abstract

Within the large Compositae family, Phitosia is considered a monotypic genus of the Greek flora, with its only species P. crocifolia (Boiss. & Heldr.) Kamari & Greuter growing wild with limited distribution, exclusively on the mountains Taigetos and Parnonas in Peloponnese. P. crocifoliaʼs chemical profile was obtained, herein, for the first time and led to the isolation of 20 compounds, thirteen of which were characterized as sesquiterpene lactones and the rest mainly as phenolic derivatives. The isolates 13, 5 – 7 and 11 – 13 represent new chemical structures. Compounds 2 and 3 especially are substituted with a pentose moiety, a rare phenomenon in sesquiterpene lactone backbones. A series of spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques were used to elucidate their structures. The relative configurations of the unreported compounds were established via extensive analysis of NMR spectroscopic and HRESIMS data, assisted by CD spectroscopic measurements. Throughout the entire isolation procedure, selected fractions rich in sesquiterpene lactones were tested against HeLa cancerous cell line for their cytotoxic effects with the lowest IC50 values being 18.84 µg/mL. Accordingly, among the tested isolates, compounds 5 and 9 exerted IC50 values of 13.5 µM and 11.4 µM, respectively.

Supporting Information



Publication History

Received: 25 March 2022

Accepted after revision: 06 September 2022

Article published online:
10 January 2023

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