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Chemistry of Passiflora (Passifloraceae)

Passiflora sp. from Sri Lanka. Photo: P.Hoffmann.

There are many ways to increase awareness of the importance of biodiversity and this includes highlighting the potential economic and health benefits of the biodiversity that is often threatened. As part of our research on the sustainable uses of plants we are investigating whether more species related to those grown commercially could be grown to provide income to communities especially those in poorer parts of the world. For example, currently only a few of the estimated 450 species of Passiflora are used commercially in the food industry, although more species are grown for the horticultural trade and more could be grown locally.  Some of these species are used traditionally to flavour drinks or to treat a range of conditions including diabetes and liver disorders. However, in most cases it is still unclear as to which compounds contribute to the medicinal uses of each species.

To date, most of the research on the chemistry of Passiflora has concentrated on the essential oils. We are investigating the phenolics that have a range of beneficial properties including anti-inflammatory activity.  In order to survey the C-glycosyl-flavone O-glycosides in the Passiflora we developed a liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry method that enabled us to detect these compounds in crude methanolic extracts of the plants.  The method enabled us to assign the C-linked sugars to either the C-6 or C-8 position of the aglycone and provides data on the molecular mass of the compound, the number and type of O-linked sugars and the molecular mass of the flavone aglycone. A total of 101 species (166 accessions), which included five species of other genera of the Passifloraceae, have been analysed. Our research has shown that the commercially grown species contain fewer flavonoids than the other species.  This could explain why the commercially grown species are more susceptible to diseases than some of their wild relatives.  We plan to compare the distribution of these compounds among the different subgenera of Passiflora proposed by recent DNA-based phylogenies.  If there is some pattern to the distribution of the phenolics then we will use the new molecular-based phylogenies to assist us select species for further biological studies.

There is an interest in these compounds not only because of their potential benefits to human health but also because they play an important role in plant-pest interactions.  Selecting species of Passiflora with higher concentrations of these compounds in their leaves could provide protection against insect herbivores as well as increase their ability to resist attack by other pathogens. The results of the research are planned to be published in high impact journals, as well as in those journals used by the food trade and in popular non-scientific magazines.  This will enable us to maximise the dissemination of the results of this research to different audiences.

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