New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science abstracts

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Secondary metabolites in Silphium integrifolium in the first 2 years of cultivation

Radoslaw Kowalski

Central Apparatus Laboratory
Sub-department of Instrumental Foodstuff Analysis
University of Agriculture, Lublin
ul Akademicka 13
20-950 Lublin 1, Poland
email: radko@ursus.ar.lublin.pl

Abstract   Evaluation of secondary metabolite contents (essential oil, flavonoids, oleanosides, and phenolic acids) was made in leaves, inflorescences, and rhizomes of Silphium integrifolium during ontogenesis. It was found that the plant's rhizomes contained the highest level of essential oil (up to 0.61% v/w) and thus they are the most interesting raw material. Leaves contained the highest level of flavonoids (up to 1.31%). However, oleanosides occurred the most abundantly in inflorescences (4.59%). Inflorescences were characterised with the largest amounts of phenolic acids (up to 48.19 mg x 100 g^–1 dry mass (DM) in total). It was found that caffeic and protocatechuic acids were the dominant phenolic acids in S. integrifolium. The optimum date of harvest was the period just before flowering.

Keywords   Silphium; Silphium integrifolium; Asteraceae; chemical composition; secondary metabolites; essential oil; flavonoids; oleanosides; phenolic acids

H04006; Online publication date 11 November 2004 Received 20 January 2004; accepted 16 July 2004
New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 2004, Vol. 32: 397–406
0014–0671/04/3204–0397    $7.00    © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004

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