Chromatographic characterization on flavonoids and triterpenes of leaves and flowers of 15 crataegus L. species

The Hawthorn (Crataegus L.) is the most commonly used herb for treating cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this paper was the analysis and comparison of HPTLC chromatographic profiles of flavonoids and triterpenes of leaves and flowers of 15 Crataegus L. species occurring throughout Eurasia and North America, and determination of specific distinguishing markers of its fingerprints. The optimal chromatographical conditions for evaluation of flavonoids and triterpenes of 15 Hawthorn species were proposed, the specific HPTLC fingerprints were obtained. The flavonoids fingerprints were qualitatively much the same for the pharmacopoeial species C.laevigata/oxyacantha and C.monogyna and other related non-pharmacopoeial European and Asian Hawthorn species including C.curvisepala, C.pseudokyrtostyla, C.fallacina, C.leiomonogyna, C.ambigua, C.sanguinea, C.almaatensis, C.turkestanica. The specific distinctive features for Hawthorn species native to North America, including C.punctata var aurea, C.pringlei, C.festiva, C.douglasii and C.holmesiana, were determined. The evaluation of the triterpenes profiles showed that all 15 analyzed Hawthorn species had quite similar fingerprints.