Altitudinal variation of secondary metabolite profiles in flowering heads of Arnica montana cv. ARBO

• Published in: Phytochemistry (Oxford) 2006-02, Vol.67 (4), p.409-417
• Main Authors: Spitaler, Renate, Schlorhaufer, P. Daniel, Ellmerer, Ernst P., Merfort, Irmgard, Bortenschlager, Sigmar, Stuppner, Hermann, Zidorn, Christian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Altitude; Altitudinal effects; Arnica - chemistry; Arnica - metabolism; Arnica montana; Biological and medical sciences; Caffeic acid esters; Caffeic Acids - analysis; Caffeic Acids - metabolism; Chemical constitution; Chemical ecology; Chlorogenic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Chlorogenic Acid - analysis; Chlorogenic Acid - metabolism; Flavonoids - analysis; Flavonoids - metabolism; Flowers - chemistry; Flowers - metabolism; Free Radical Scavengers - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Lactones - analysis; Lactones - metabolism; Natural products; Phenolics; Phenols - chemistry; Phenols - metabolism; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plant physiology and development; Sesquiterpene lactones; Sesquiterpenes - analysis; Sesquiterpenes - metabolism; Ultraviolet Rays; UV radiation
• ISSN: 0031-9422; 1873-3700
• DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2005.11.018

The altitudinal variation on the contents of secondary metabolites in flowering heads of Arnica montana was assessed. Plants of A. montana cultivar ARBO were grown in nine experimental plots at altitudes between 590 and 2230 m at Mount Patscherkofel near Innsbruck/Austria. The proportion of flavonoids with vicinal free hydroxy groups in ring B to flavonoids lacking this feature significantly increased with elevation. Additionally, the level of phenolic acids, in particular the level of 1-methoxyoxaloyl-3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, also positively correlated with the altitude of the growing site. The altitudinal variation on the contents of secondary metabolites in flowering heads of Arnica montana was assessed. Plants of A. montana cultivar ARBO were grown in nine experimental plots at altitudes between 590 and 2230 m at Mount Patscherkofel near Innsbruck/Austria. The total contents of sesquiterpene lactones and flavonoids were not positively correlated with the altitude of the growing site. However, the proportion of flavonoids with vicinal free hydroxy groups in ring B to flavonoids lacking this feature significantly increased with elevation. Additionally, the level of caffeic acid derivatives also positively correlated with the altitude of the growing site. In particular amounts of 1-methoxyoxaloyl-3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid significantly increased in higher sites and samples from the summit region contained 85% more of this compound than samples from valley sites. These results are discussed with regards to chemosystematic studies comparing samples collected in different altitudes as well as in the light of a UV-B protective and radical scavenging function of phenolics and their significance for plant life in environments with elevated UV-B radiation.