title: Chemical composition fluctuations in roots of Plumbago scandens L. in relation to floral development.
abstract: Plumbago scandens L. is a Brazilian tropical/subtropical species that occurs along the coast. Chemically it is mainly represented by naphthoquinones, flavonoids, terpenoids and steroids. The aim of the present work is to study quantitative changes in the root metabolic production of Plumbago scandens during different physiologic developmental stages relative to floration. The results indicated the presence of four substances in the extracts: plumbagin, epi-isoshinanolone, palmitic acid and sitosterol, independent on developmental stage. The naphthoquinone plumbagin has always showed to be the major component of all extracts. Naphthoquinones exhibited their highest content during floration, while the content of the two others components decreased during this stage, revealing an inverse profile. The chemical composition changed depending on the plant requirements.
authors.affiliation: Setor de Botânica, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brasil. selpaiva@vm.uff.br
authors.forename: Selma R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.forename: Lucilene A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Maria Raquel
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.forename: Maria Auxiliadora C
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D009285:Naphthoquinones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D019308:Palmitic Acid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D029606:Plumbaginaceae / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D012855:Sitosterols / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013764:Tetrahydronaphthalenes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009285:Naphthoquinones; D012855:Sitosterols; D013764:Tetrahydronaphthalenes; C434363:isoshinanolone; D019308:Palmitic Acid; C025473:gamma-sitosterol; C014758:plumbagin