Variation in the contents of pseudohypericin and hypericin in Hypericum perforatum from Lithuania

Hypericin and hypericin-like substances are considered the main active compounds in Hypericum perforatum L (Hypericaceae) In this work pseudohypericin and hypericin of H perforatum collected in Lithuania were quantified Studies on accumulation dynamics and between-accession variation of the contents of these secondary metabolites were carried out by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) The data were statistically processed with ANOVA and PCA Significant difference between pseudohypericin and hypericin content in floral budding and full flowering stages was detected The highest amounts of the secondary metabolites were observed in the flowering stage The study revealed evident within population variations in H perforatum Mean concentrations of pseudohypericin and hypericin among accessions varied from 345 to 682 mg/g and from 117 to 259 mg/g respectively Accessions of H perforatum showed remarkable differences in chemical composition depending on the provenance of plants (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved