Phenolic compounds of the needles of Pinus Pumila (Pall.) Regel growing in Yakutia

Abstract

Dwarf pine (Pinus pumila (Pall.) Rgl) is a coniferous evergreen representative of the Pinus genus, Pinaceae family. In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Pinus pumila occupies substantial areas and is well known for its forage characteristics. In the traditional medicine of north-eastern Asia, a number of curative properties are assigned to this species, which allows us to relate P. pumila to the list of promising medicinal plants. Previous studies were focused on the content of terpenes, so that phenolic compounds in the needles of P. pumila were left without attention in spite of their high antioxidant activity. In the present paper, the results of qualitative and quantitative analysis for the concentrations of phenolic compounds in the needles of Pinus pumila growing in Yakutia are reported. The samples of plant material were collected in the Oymyakonsky district in 2018. For analysis, the raw material was extracted with 70 % ethanol with subsequent filtration of the extract. The quantitative content of flavonoids and phenolic compounds was determined using an SF-2000 spectrophotometer. The concentration of flavonoids, recalculated for the standard rutin sample, was 0.376±0.065 %. The total content of phenolic compounds determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent was 32.01 % in the 70 % ethanol extract of the needles of P. pumila and 7.48 % in its aqueous extract.