Some species of the family Papaveraceae, especially Dicranostigma lactucoides (HOOK.f.et THOMS), Macleaya microcarpa (Willd.), and Stylophorum lasiocarpum (Oliv.), are known by their high content of quarternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids (QBA) in roots. Many papers deal with biological activity of the main QBA sanguinarine and chelerythrine [1]. On the other hand, knowledge about the effects of minor QBA is very poor [2]. We monitored the content of five QBA sanguinarine (SA), chelerythrine (CHE), chelirubine (CHR), chelilutine (CHL), and macarpine (MAC) in roots of the named species during the vegetation period using RP-HPLC. The aim was to determine the best period for the collection of plants and subsequent isolation of QBA. Methanol extracts were prepared for analysis. The Phenomenex reverse phase C-12 column SynergyTM MAX-RP was used and mobile phase consisted of heptanesulfonic acid (0.01M) and triethanolamine (0.1M) in redestilled water, pH 2.5 (H3PO4) acetonitrile gradient 25–60% during 30 minutes. Detection was perfomed at 280 nm. The amount of QBA had sinusoidal character for all tested species. For D. lactucoides, which is a biannual plant, the highest content of QBA was determined in May of the second year of cultivation (1.99% for SA, 3.43% for CHE and 0.31% for CHR). In M. microcarpa (perennial plant), the QBA content culminated in May (0.73% CHE and 0.46% SA) and June (0.23% CHR, 0.14% CHL, and 0.20% MAC). In S. lasiocarpum (perennial plant), the highest amount of CHE, CHR, CHL, and MAC (0.08%; 0.07%; 0.01% and 0.17%) was found in August and of SA (0.13%) in September. According to these results, M. microcarpa is a suitable source of minor QBA, while the content of SA and CHE is highest in D. lactucoides.
References: [1] Dvorak, Z. et. al. (2006) Heterocycles 68 (11): 2403–2422. [2] Slaninova, I. et al. (2001) Cell biology and Toxicology 17: 51–63.
