The phytochemical profile of Lepechinia meyenii (Walp.) Epling and Lepechina floribunda (Benth.) Epling obtained by liquid chromatography associated with high-resolution mass spectrometry is presented. Forty eight compounds were detected exhibiting a variety of salvianolic acids and abietane phenolic diterpenoids. A simple procedure by cold evaporative crystallization to purify rosmarinic acid from these botanical species was also shown.

The profile of secondary metabolites in ten members of tribe Mentheae (Nepetoideae, Lamiaceae) from Peru by liquid chromatography associated with high resolution mass spectrometry, is presented. Salvianolic acids and their precursors were found, particularly rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid ester derivatives, as well as a diversity of free and glycosylated flavonoids as main substances. At all, 111 structures were tentatively identified.

In this study, poly(HEMA-PEGxMEM-IA) hydrogels were prepared by radical copolymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGxMEM), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and itaconic acid (IA). The reaction was carried out in ethanolic solution using N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinking agent and 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone (HCPK) as a photo-initiator. The poly(HEMA-PEGxMEM-IA) hydrogels (HGx) were evaluated as a delivery system for ursolic acid (UA), a phytochemical extracted from the plant Clinopodium revolutum, “flor de arena”. The hydrogels were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), Raman spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The swelling behavior was studied in buffer solutions from pH 2 to 10, specifically at pH 2.2 (gastric environment) and 7.4 (intestinal environment). It was found that the hydrogels studied showed sensitivity to pH. At pH 2.2, the degree of swelling for HG₅ and HG₉ hydrogels was 0.45 and 0.93 (g water/g hydrogel), respectively. At pH 7.4, the degree of swelling for HG₅ and HG₉ hydrogels was 1.97 and 2.64 (g water/g hydrogel), respectively. The SEM images show the variation in pore size as a function of pH, and the UA crystals in the pores of the hydrogels can also be observed. The in vitro UA release data best fit the Korsmeyer–Peppas kinetic model and the diffusion exponent indicates that the release mechanism is governed by Fickian diffusion.

El género Eryngium (Apiaceae, Saniculoideae) se distribuye en Eurasia, Africa del norte y Sudamérica. En Perú la más conocida es E. foetidum, el famoso “sacha culantro” de los platos de la cocina amazónica. En los andes las especies descritas son E. humile (andes del norte) y E. weberbaueri (andes del Cusco), sin embargo, hasta donde sabemos, no se conoce exactamente la fitogeografía de los Eryngiums andinos. La presente comunicación trata sobre la cuantificación de dos componentes fenólicos bioactivos: el ácido clorogénico y el ácido rosmarínico, así como la identificación tentativa de los flavonoides robinina y rutina en las tres especies mencionadas del género Eryngium. Los extractos que se trabajaron en todos los casos se hiceron con etanol de 70% con un método DAD-UHPLC ad hoc. El estándar de ácido clorogénico utilizado fue comercial mientras que el ácido rosmarínico se obtuvo de la especie Lepechinia meyenii (Lamiaceae). Ambas son moléculas biológicamente activas y muy buenos candidatos para hacer preparados fitoterapeúticos, para el caso de la utilización de las plantas crudas, generar un manejo inteligente de sus infusiones.

Mutisia L. f. (Mutisiinae, Mutisieae, Mutisioideae, Asteraceae) is a South American genus that contains several medicinal species. Mutisia acuminata Ruiz & Pav. and M. orbignyana Wedd. are known sources of the 12-dihydroxy-5-methylcoumestan and 5-methylcoumarin-4-glucoside respectively. The 12-dihydroxy-5-methylcoumestan exhibited notable antihepatotoxic activity in a previous study. In the present work, 5-methylcoumarin-4-glucoside and 12-dihydroxy-5-methylcoumestan were isolated from a Peruvian collection of M. orbignyana. Additionally, the relative concentrations of those two isolated compounds in six Peruvian species of Mutisia (M. acuminata, M. cochabambensis Hieron., M. lanata Ruiz & Pav., M. orbignyana, M. venusta S.F. Blake and M. wurdackii Cabrera) were determined by an HPLC method. The highest concentrations of both constituents were observed in the sample of M. orbignyana.

The profile of secondary metabolites in eleven Mentheae (Nepetoideae, Lamiaceae) from Peru by liquid chromatography associated with Orbitrap mass spectrometry, UHPLC-OT-MS is presented. Precursors of and salvianolic acids have been found, particularly rosmarinic acid, as well as a diversity of free and glycosylated flavonoids as main substances, 127 tentatively identified structures. In addition, a method to obtain ursolic acid from Clinopodium revolutum (R. & P.) Govaerts and a quantitative analysis for rosmarinic acid and triterpenic acids in aqueous infusions of these plants are presented.