A simple procedure for the extraction of aryltetralin lignans from
Podophyllum peltatum with
addition of an internal standard (acetylpodophyllotoxin) was developed.
Plant material was
separated into rhizomes and roots, petioles, and blades, and the lignan
content of the ground
tissue of these different parts was analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC.
Podophyllotoxin and
seven of its congeners were quantified. It was observed that the
lignan content of the different
plant parts may differ by orders of magnitude. More significantly,
this degree of variation
found among tissues of plant parts was not consistent from one
population to another. The
recovery of podophyllotoxin and acetylpodophyllotoxin in these
different tissues is discussed.