Biochemical Fingerprint of Greek Sideritis spp.: Implications for Potential Drug Discovery and Advanced Breeding Strategies

Abstract

Plant species of the Sideritis genus are native to the Mediterranean region and widely used through millennia for their medicinal and culinary properties. They are mostly known as mountain tea or Shepard tea and in the last few years, they are on the spotlight due to the production of an enormous variety of bioactive secondary metabolites exerting a wide range of pharmaceutical applications. In the present study the biochemical value and the health promoting components of various indigenous Sideritis species was assessed: S. perforiata subsp. perfoliata, S. perfoliata subsp. athoa, S. syriaca, S. raeseri, S. scardica. A thorough biochemical analysis was conducted, including total phenols and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, amino acids, elemental and polar/non polar metabolite profiling. S. perfoliata subsp. perfoliata had the most diverse and rich terpene profile among the studied species, while its infusion had the highest phenol and flavonoid content thus, showed the highest antioxidant activity. The diverse chemotype of Sideritis species can be used as a guide on the preparation of tea mixes with the desired metabolite content targeting specialized medical applications or may assist on the design of breeding strategies.

Characterization of Sideritis clandestina subsp. peloponnesiaca Polar Glycosides and Phytochemical Comparison to Other Mountain Tea Populations

“…Previous comparisons among Sideritis species also found that S. scardica samples had higher TPC than S. raeseri [ 5 ]. Overall, the values of total phenolics and total flavonoids herein were comparatively equal [ 40 ] or lower in comparison with previous studies [ 4 , 5 , 14 , 34 , 40 ] and the differences could be attributed to the extraction method, as well. The high content of total phenols and flavonoids of SR was depicted in its high antioxidant activity in both FRAP and DPPH assays.…”

“…Kostadinova et al [ 49 ] also supported that sesquiterpenes were in high concentrations, indicating germacrone, elemol acetate, and a-cadinol as the prevalent compounds. Β-Caryophyllene was also found in high concentrations in two Greek populations of cultivated SR [ 5 ]), whereas α-bisabolol and bicyclogermacrene were found in the population originating from Florina. Observations of great variety in essential-oil composition of close Greek SR populations (both from Kozani) have been made by Kloukina et al [ 50 ].…”

“…Their taxonomical classification is difficult due to their tendency to hybridize, and many chemotaxonomic approaches have been adopted [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Apart from the chemovariability that derives not only from the genotype but also from the location, the time of collection, the environmental conditions, and cultivation practices, there is an intrinsic difficulty in those phytochemical studies since the genus Sideritis is a rich source of secondary metabolites [ 1 ].…”

Traditionally Used Sideritis cypria Post.: Phytochemistry, Nutritional Content, Bioactive Compounds of Cultivated Populations

“…Species S. scardica and S. raeseri appear poorer in terms of mineral content, and demonstrate almost half the quantities of the majority of nutrients as K, P, Ca, Mg (Karapandzova et al, 2013), compared to S. cypria. Trikka et al (2019) evaluated different species of Sideritis genus from different geographical regions of Greece and plants exhibited high variability, even within species (S. perfoliata, S. scarica, S. raeseri), and had lower contents in minerals than S. cypria. These variations may be the effect of the cultivation practices applied or/and the harvesting periods (Chrysargyris et al, 2019b).…”

Comparison of Volatile Organic Compounds of Sideritis romana L. and Sideritis montana L. from Croatia

“…Related species of the genus Sideritis, namely S. scardica [ 22 , 29 , 72 ], S. clandestina (Bory and Chaub.) Hayek [ 21 ], S. raeseri [ 72 , 73 , 74 ], and S. syriaca L. [ 22 ], whose aerial parts have been traditionally used for the treatment of inflammation, gastrointestinal disorders and cough associated with cold and whose usage has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) [ 75 ], were observed to possess, as one of their major volatile constituents, the same VOCs that were found in S. romana and S. montana in the present study, thus, indicating a promising potential for future investigations of these species.…”