Abstract
Roseroot (<em>Rhodiola rosea</em> L.) belongs to important herbs in folk medicine of Scandinavia, Russia, Mongolia, and China. Its therapeutic usage is mainly associated with the adaptogenic properties of this species. Roseroot is characterized by high morphological, phytochemical, and genetic differentiation. The aim of the present work was to determine the biometric and phytochemical co-variability of this taxon. Samples of <em>Rh. rosea</em> were collected from 4-year-old experimental field cultivation established by rhizome division in western Poland. For each plant, the biometric measurements of the clumps, shoots, leaves, and rhizomes with roots were carried out. In the underground plant parts (raw material), the contents of the main active compounds (phenylpropanoids, phenylethanoids, phenolic acids, and catechins) were determined by the HPLC-DAD method. <em>K</em>-means clustering analysis showed three well-separated plant groups of <em>Rh. rosea</em> that differed significantly in the level of most of the investigated components. It was interesting that in the raw material with a high content of phenylethanoids, a low level of phenylpropanoids was found, and vice versa. These chemical groups clearly differed in luxuriance of plants, too. The important diagnostic feature was also the degree of leaf serration. The morphological and phytochemical co-variability of roseroot was confirmed by the correlations detected between some active compounds (especially catechins and rosavin) and biometric traits describing the size and serration of leaves, the size of clumps and shoots as well as the weight of the raw material.
Highlights
Rhodiola rosea L. (Crassulaceae) is a herbaceous perennial plant with fleshy leaves and thick rhizomes. This arctic-alpine species has a wide range of distribution, from the mountains of Western and Central Europe, Siberia, Mongolia to Far East and North America [1]
The investigated specimens of Rh. rosea from 4-year-old field cultivation were characterized by high variability of raw material yield, from 113.4 to 961.7 g fresh weight (FW) per plant
Rhizomes constituted the main part of the underground organs, with an average share of 82.2% FW
Summary
Rhodiola rosea L. (Crassulaceae) is a herbaceous perennial plant with fleshy leaves and thick rhizomes. (Crassulaceae) is a herbaceous perennial plant with fleshy leaves and thick rhizomes. This arctic-alpine species has a wide range of distribution, from the mountains of Western and Central Europe, Siberia, Mongolia to Far East and North America [1]. In Poland, roseroot grows in the Giant Mountains, Babia Góra, Tatra and Bieszczady Mountains [4,5,6]. Many research studies have found that roseroot increases mental and physical strength as well as it shows anti-stress, cardioprotective, antioxidative, immunomodulatory, and anticancer activities [7,11,12,13,14]. The above-described features of Rh. rosea are associated with the presence of phenolics, especially phenylpropanoids, so-called rosavins and phenylethanoids – salidroside and p-tyrosol [15]
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