A rapidly upward demand for medicinal and aromatic plants entails the revive and increasing interest in natural products. The plant constituents are greatly influenced by climatic factors as well as by variations among populations coming from different geographical regions. Five species typical of Trentino Alpine region are evaluated within a project named PARMA (Piante Alimentari, aRomatiche e Medicinali Alpine=edible, aromatic and medicinal plants of the Alps). The third analysed species Rhodiola rosea L. (golden root or rose root) is a perennial plant widely distributed at high altitudes in arctic and mountainous regions. Its long use in traditional medicine is connected to biological activities such as antiallergic effects, effect to memory, antidepressant, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties, and effects in cancer therapy. The authors perform cultivation trials in the Trentino region on 1250m, starting in 2004 and working out the proper agronomic technology. The phytochemical characterisation of dried roots was studied by LC-ESI/MSn, quantifying the six most important constituents salidroside, tyrosol, rosarin, rosavin, rosin and rosiridin, which are isolated from 3 year old plants and derive from four different accessions. In comparison to cited data [1], higher concentrations of salidroside (5.58±0.95mg/g), rosavin (9.56±0.21mg/g) and rosiridin (6.91±1.03mg/g) are detected. An additional quality-parameter is introduced by the separated harvest of male and female plant material. In general, higher amounts of salidroside and tyrosol are found in male plants, whereas rosarin, rosavin, rosin and rosiridin are more abundant in female plants.
Acknowledgement: This work has been supported by the grant of the Autonomous Province of Trento, 9th July 2004 no. 1587.
References: [1] Ganzera, M. et al. (2001) Chem Pharm Bull 49: 465–467.
