Triterpenoids of the gramineae

Pentacyclic triterpene methyl ethers in recent lacustrine sediments (Lagoa do Caçó, Brazil)

“…PTMEs from Gramineae have been largely studied during the 1960s (review in Martin-Smith et al, 1967;Ohmoto et al, 1970). Ohmoto et al (1970) reported on the occurrence of nine PTME structures from thirty one species of Gramineae belonging to fourteen tribes. Little chemotaxonomic evidence is available from these studies due to the few plants studied.…”

“…Ohmoto et al (1970) pointed out that the PTME content of Cortaderiae changes with season, probably as a consequence of a given physiological function of these compounds in plants. This assumption is also evidenced in Zoysieae, where arundoin dominates in inland species while sawamilletin dominates in plants growing on sandy seashores.…”

Distribution of miliacin (olean-18-en-3β-ol methyl ether) and related compounds in broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and other reputed sources: Implications for the use of sedimentary miliacin as a tracer of millet

“…Das and Mahato, 1983), several pentacyclic triterpenes bearing original functional groups can be more taxon specific. Examples from multiple sedimentary sources (Jacob et al, 2005;Oyo-Ita et al, 2010) include those having an acetate function at C-3, that are restricted predominantly to Asteraceae (Lavrieux et al, 2011) and those bearing a methyl ether (ME) function at C-3 that are constrained to Poaceae (Ohmoto et al, 1970a).…”

Occurrence of triterpenyl acetates in soil and their potential as chemotaxonomical markers of Asteraceae

“…For example, the presence of various Asteraceae seeds in a Late Bronze Age (905-869 BC) settlement on the shore of Lake le Bourget was related to their ethnobotanical properties, their consumption as human food or livestock fodder, dye and/or medicine (Bouby and Billaud, 2001;. Triterpenyl acetates thus extend the panel of biomarkers for past flora that can attest, in favourable cases, to human activities such as miliacin for millet (Jacob et al, 2008), other pentacyclic triterpene methyl ethers for Gramineae (Ohmoto et al, 1970;Jacob et al, 2005;Zocatelli et al, 2010), iso-and anteiso-monomethyl alkanes for culinary and aromatic herbs from the Lamiaceae family (Huang et al, 2011) and more generally those reported by Evershed (2008) with respect to archaeology. As with these other biomarkers, triterpenyl acetates can constitute reliable tools for tracing the presence of plants of economic interest.…”

“…For example, Gramineae are the most common producers of pentacyclic triterpenes bearing a MeO group at C-3 (Ohmoto et al, 1970;Jacob et al, 2005;Zocatelli et al, 2010). In particular, more specific relationships can be established, such as that allowing the linking of miliacin (olean-18-en-3-ol methyl ether) in sediments from Lake le Bourget (French Alps) to Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet) cultivated in the watershed (Jacob et al, 2008(Jacob et al, , 2009).…”