Triterpenic Acid Content and Cytotoxicity of Some Salvia Species From Iran

Abstract

For prosperous domestication, breeding, and cultivation of a herbal species, it is important to screen its medicinally valuable compounds as well as its referred biological activity. Salvia L. species (Lamiaceae), distributed throughout the world, contain a wide range of secondary metabolites including terpenoids and phenolic derivatives. Betulinic acid (BA), oleanolic acid (OA), and ursolic acid (UA) are highly valuable triterpenic acids (TAs) because of their wide range of biological activities. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the BA, OA, and UA contents among 22 Salvia species native to Iran. TA content in the studied Salvia species was compared with that in Salvia officinalis as a commercial species. High-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector results showed that the maximum content of BA (3.12 ± 0.03 mg/g dry weight [DW]) and OA (1.96 ± 0.05 mg/g DW) was determined in Salvia multicaulis. The highest content of UA (4.34 ± 0.1 mg/g DW) was quantified in S. officinalis L. followed by S. multicaulis (3.71 ± 0.08 mg/g DW). Salvia multicaulis exhibited significantly higher agro-morphological values than S. officinalis in traits related to plant width, leaf length, internode length, and inflorescence length. The cytotoxicities of both species were determined against human cancer cell lines using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The methanolic extract of S. multicaulis and S. officinalis showed cytotoxic effects against SH-SY5Y and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. Both species were equally cytotoxic against the HL-60 cell line. This study provides scope for the selection of high-yielding species and genetic improvement through breeding and biotechnological programs in the future.

Identification of key genes involved in the biosynthesis of triterpenic acids in the mint family

“…The predominant TA in different tissues of R. officinalis was BA, and UA predominated in the studied tissues of S. officinalis and T. persicus . It has been proposed that the content of secondary metabolites can be significantly affected by genetics 59,60 , the plant species 3,61 and organ 62,63 , and environmental conditions 64,65 , which is in accordance with the results obtained here. In contrast with the present study, in which BA was the predominant TA in R. officinalis , UA was the main TA observed in the study of Razboršek et al .…”

Application of UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS in Phytochemical Profiling of Sage (Salvia officinalis) and Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

“…33), have been identified both in sage and rosemary. Among them, betulinic acid and ursolic acid were detected before in sage and rosemary leaves [12,26,27,46,47]. Despite the similar molecular weight of ursolic acid and betulinic acid ([M -H]¯ at m/z 455.35), the former was identified through the reference standard, and the later molecule was confirmed by comparison to the NIST mass spectral library.…”

Relationship between Maturity Stage, Triterpenoid Content and Cytotoxicity of Sorbus intermedia (EHRH.) PERS. Fruits – A Chemometric Approach

“…The available data suggests that triterpenes may contribute to the cytotoxic effects of crude plant material [32–36] . UA ‐ the predominant triterpene in S. intermedia fruit extract ‐ has been especially widely studied in this respect in many in vitro and in vivo models [37–40] .…”