engleski

GLUCOSINOLATES AND ITS CHEMOTAXONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF DIPLOTAXIS ERUCOIDES (L.) DC.

Genus Diplotaxis (Brassicaceae) includes about 30 species among which Diplotaxis tenuifolia, Diplotaxis muralis, Diplotaxis viminea and Diplotaxis erucoides are native to Croatia [1]. They are annual or perennial plants, either herbaceous or sub-shrubby with a woody base. The flowers are yellow in many species, white in some. Diplotaxis erucoides (L.) DC. is a widespread weedy crucifer around the Mediterranean extending from the Iberian Peninsula, across central and southern Europe and North Africa to western Asia. As with other allied species, D. erucoides might be considered a valuable phytogenetic resource because of its potential as a salad vegetable, a source of seed oil or nectar for honey production [2]. Glucosinolates, found in this species, represent the metabolic compounds which have been frequently used as chemical markers in chemotaxonomy. They can degrade enzymatically and thermally into various volatiles. Hydrodistillation in Clevenger type apparatus was used for the isolation and concentration of the free volatile compounds and volatile aglucones obtained by thermal degradation of glucosinolates and the obtained isolate was analysed by GC/MS. The main glucosinolates identified by their degradation products were allyl GL, namely sinigrin (derived from L-methionine), and 2-phenylethyl GL (derived from L-homophenylalanine). These compounds can represent valuable information in conjunction with other sources of taxonomic evidence in order to establish a system of classification which reflects natural relationships as accurately as possible.

Diplotaxis erucoides; glucosinolates; hydrodistillation; GC-MS; chemotaxonomy

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