Influence of drying mode on iridoid bitter constituent levels in gentian root
✍ Scribed by Andrée Carnat; Didier Fraisse; André-Paul Carnat; Catherine Felgines; Denis Chaud; Jean-Louis Lamaison
- Book ID
- 102429967
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2005
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 97 KB
- Volume
- 85
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-5142
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Root samples of wild gentian (Gentiana lutea L) were harvested from six localities (altitude 970 m to 1350 m) from May to November 2000. Each batch of roots was split into three: fresh roots, naturally dried roots (ambient air) and artificially dried roots (40 °C). In all the samples, levels of iridoid bitter constituents and of xanthone coloured compounds were determined by HPLC. The mean total iridoid content in the fresh roots was 102.4 g kg^−1^ in dry matter (DM). The mean level of the principal bitter compound gentiopicroside was particularly high at 81 g kg^−1^ DM. Loganic acid, not previously reported in G lutea, was the second most abundant bitter compound at a mean level of 14.3 g kg^−1^ DM. Swertiamarin was present at 5.4 g kg^−1^, with another minor unidentified iridoid. Levels of iridoid compounds were strongly dependent of the drying mode. These amounts were 88.5 g kg^−1^ DM in artificially dried roots and 62.5 g kg^−1^ DM in naturally dried roots, mostly owing to a marked decrease in gentiopicroside. The temperature of 40 °C preserved the bitter compounds and the bitterness of fresh gentian roots. The amount of coloured xanthones was relatively low at 3.3 g kg^−1^ and did not change with the drying mode. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry