Herbaceous plants growing in Arctic zones as potential perspective sources of valuable flavonoids

Abstract

Flavonoids represent a wide group of polyphenols involved in many key processes of plant growth and its can be successfully used in medical practice. In plants that are exposed to extreme factors of various nature, the flavonoids synthesis occurs more intensively compared with plants of the same species growing under more favorable conditions. Thus, it can be assumed that it is the Arctic plants that can be important sources of flavonoids. This paper presents the results of a search for flavonoid sources among herbaceous plants growing in the Arctic zone, in particular, the Murmansk region. The total flavonoid content in ethanol extracts of 24 plant species was estimated using the reaction of complexation with aluminum chloride. It was shown that Lathyrus pratensis L., Lupinus arcticus L., Hedysarum alpinum L., Chamaenerion angustifolium L., and Polygonum weyrichii species contain the highest amounts of flavonoids.