Terpene Profiles Composition and Micromorphological Analysis on Two Wild Populations of <i>Helichrysum</i> spp. from the Tuscan Archipelago (Central Italy)
Lorenzo Marini,
Enrico Palchetti,
Lorenzo Brilli,
Gelsomina Fico,
Claudia Giuliani,
Marco Michelozzi,
Gabriele Cencetti,
Bruno Foggi,
Piero Bruschi
Affiliations
Lorenzo Marini
Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, DAGRI, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144 Firenze, Italy
Enrico Palchetti
Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, DAGRI, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144 Firenze, Italy
Lorenzo Brilli
Institute for the BioEconomy, National Research Council, CNR-IBE, Via Giovanni Caproni 8, 50145 Firenze, Italy
Gelsomina Fico
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli 25, 20133 Milano, Italy
Claudia Giuliani
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli 25, 20133 Milano, Italy
Marco Michelozzi
Institute of Bioscience and BioResources, National Research Council, CNR-IBBR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Gabriele Cencetti
Institute of Bioscience and BioResources, National Research Council, CNR-IBBR, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Bruno Foggi
Department of Biology, BIO, University of Florence, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
Piero Bruschi
Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, DAGRI, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144 Firenze, Italy
Two wild populations of Helichrysum (Mill.) located at Elba Island (Tuscan Archipelago, Central Italy) were morphologically and phytochemically analyzed to taxonomically identify H. litoreum (population A) and H. italicum subsp. italicum (population B). Micromorphological and histochemical analyses were performed on the indumentum using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Light Microscope (LM). Morphometric analyses on vegetative and reproductive traits were also conducted. Finally, a chemotaxonomic analysis was carried out on the terpene profile of flowers, leaves and bark tissues using gas chromatography (GC-MS). Results suggested that morphological discriminant traits were mainly in leaves and cypselae glandular tissues. Phytochemical analysis indicated that a high relative content of α-pinene and β-caryophyllene were the main markers for population A, while a high relative content of neryl-acetate, α-curcumene, isoitalicene and italicene, especially in the terpene profile of bark tissue, were the main compounds for discriminating population B. The analysis suggested that the wild population A could be mainly ascribed to H. litoreum, whilst population B is defined by H. italicum.
