Chemical Content Variations of Hypericum perforatum Growing in Turkey during its Ontogenetic and Diurnal Cycles

Abstract

Abstract
The biological activities of Hypericum perforatum have been mainly attributed to its hypericin and hyperforin contents. The present study was conducted to determine ontogenetic, morphogenetic and diurnal variation of hypericin, pseudohypericin and hyperforin contents in H. perforatum growing in Turkey. Plants were harvested at floral budding, full flowering, fresh fruiting and mature fruiting stages three times a day. When harvested they were dissected into stem, leaf and reproductive tissues, which were dried separately, and subsequently assayed for hypericin, pseudohypericin and hyperforin contents by HPLC. Plant materials harvested at noon contained higher levels of three bioactive compounds than those harvested in the morning or evening. Reproductive tissues contained higher concentrations of hypericin, pseudohypericin and hyperforin than leaf and stem tissues. However, ontogenetic variation of these compounds varied with plant tissues. Principally, contents of the three compounds decreased with advancing of plant development depending on tissues. Hypericin and pseudohypericin contents of leaf, reproductive and stem tissues reached their highest levels during flower ontogenesis stage. Similarly, hyperforin content of leaves was the highest at floral budding stage while stems and reproductive parts accumulated the highest levels of hyperforin at fresh fruiting stage.
Keywords: Hypericum perforatum, diurnal variation, hypericin, pseudohypericin, hyperforin, ontogenesis

Cite this Article
Cüneyt Çırak, Dursun Kurt. Chemical Content Variations of Hypericum perforatum growing in Turkey during its Ontogenetic and Diurnal Cycles. Research and Reviews: Journal of Botany. 2016; 5(1): 3–12p.