Isolation and Quantification of Rosmarinic Acid from Hymenocrater calycinus

Abstract

The genus Hymenocrater (Lamiaceae), growing wild in Iran, has been screened as a new source of rosmarinic acid (RA), a phenolic and an economically important constituent. The variation of the RA concentration was quantified in aerial parts of H. calycinus from three regions in Iran using high-performance liquid chromatography. The RA concentrations ranged from 2.4 mg g⁻¹(based on dried weight) in samples from the Esfarayen origin to 13.2 mg g⁻¹ in samples from the Bajgiran origin. As all the three samples were gathered during the full flowering stage, it appears that the variation in the RA concentrations is due to the differences in the region of collections such as the geographical conditions and habitats.

Keywords:

• Lamiaceae
• labiatenic acid
• HPLC

Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by a Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services grant (No.7343).