Quantitative Recovery of Furanocoumarins from Psoralea bituminosa

Abstract

The occurrence of bound coumarin derivatives in the Fabaceae has already been demonstrated. In an attempt to determine the yield of furanocoumarins following exhaustive recovery from Psoralea bituminosa, three different hydrolytic procedures have been employed. Method 1 involved the methanolic extraction of plant material followed by acid hydrolysis of the remaining plant material; methods 2 and 3 involved preliminary hydrolysis by acid or enzyme, respectively, followed by solvent extract. The lowest furanocoumarin recovery was obtained using the first extraction procedure, whilst the highest was obtained using the extraction procedure with enzymatic hydrolysis of bound forms (method 3). The linear isomer psoralen is more effectively recovered by the specific enzymatic hydrolytic method, with an average increase of the psoralen:angelicin ratio of about 20%. Although the preliminary acid hydrolysis (method 2) is less effective than the enzymatic one, it is a faster and less expensive procedure and it could be suitable and profitably used for extracting furanocoumarin from plant material on a large scale.

Phenotypic variation for productivity and drought tolerance is widespread in germplasm collections of Australian Cullen species

“…Biosynthetically, they are mainly originated from shikimic acid pathway, with the intermediated of cinnamic acid. In the case of Bituminaria bituminosa, the presence of two furanocoumarins has been reported by different authors as psoralen (linear furanocoumarins) and angelicin (angular furanocoumarins) (Innocenti et al, 1991(Innocenti et al, , 1997Méndez et al, 2001;Tava et al, 2007). However, little information exits concerning the presence of these secondary compounds in the genus Cullen.…”

“…The FC content obtained for the two botanical varieties of Bituminaria are similar to the ones published by Innocenti et al (1997) using a chemical hydrolysis method of extraction. The psoralen and angelicin content varied from 260 ppm and 940 ppm for an accession from Padova to 3700 ppm and 2300 ppm for an accession from Consenza respectively.…”

The potential of herbaceous native Australian legumes as grain crops: a review

“…No information was found on the protein or oil content of Cullen seed/fruit, but like other members of the Psoraleae family, Australian Cullen species are known to contain the furanocoumarins psoralen and angelicin [59][60][61] . Furanocoumarins are potent photosensitizing agents that may cause phototoxic reactions, but they are also pharmaceutically useful for the treatment of skin disorders such as psoriasis, vitiligo, leukoderma and leprosy 62 .…”

“…The seeds of Australian Cullen species have been found to contain between 1000 and 8000 mg kg -1 dry weight (DW) of furanocoumarins (depending on species) and have been proposed as potential sources for pharmaceutical use 36,61,62 . The fruits generally contain the highest concentration of furanocoumarins, up to 5500 ppm in Cullen corylifolia (native to India) and the majority ( >70%) of this is found in the cotyledon of the fruit 60,63 . Psoralea cinerea) and C. plumosum were identified with the highest levels of furanocoumarins, but they have also been measured in Cullen lachnostachys (syn.…”

“…C. cinereum (syn. Vegetative material may also contain significant levels of furanocoumarins (up to 1600 ppm) 60,64 , which may affect the health of grazing animals by inducing photodermatitis. Psoralea lachnostachys) and Cullen pustulatum (syn.…”