Chemosystematic evaluation of Aloe section Pictae (Asphodelaceae)

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Authors

Grace, Olwen Megan
Simmonds, Monique S.J.
Smith, G.F. (Gideon Francois), 1959-
Van Wyk, Abraham Erasmus (Braam)

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Publisher

Elsevier

Abstract

The chemosystematic value of UV-absorbing leaf constituents was considered in previously uncharacterised representatives of Aloe section Pictae, the problematic maculate species complex. Comparative data indicate that the anthrone C-glycoside, 60-malonylnataloin (7-hydroxychrysaloin 60-O-malonate) is typical of maculate species in East Africa, but is unconvincing as a synapomorphy for section Pictae. A naphthalene derivative found widely in Aloe, plicataloside, was detected in Aloe greatheadii. Biogeographical trends were observed in the occurrence of the flavonoids isoorientin (luteolin-6-Cglucoside) and isovitexin (apigenin 6-C-glucoside). Isoorientin is a common constituent of tropical and sub-tropical species of Aloe, whereas isovitexin is restricted to a few southern African species. Isoorientin and isovitexin co-occur in the southern African maculate species Aloe parvibracteata, and the disjunct West African maculate species, Aloe macrocarpa. This is the first report of isoorientin and isovitexin in maculate species of Aloe; the presence of flavonoids in section Pictae is of taxonomic interest.

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Keywords

Pictae, Maculate aloes, Isoorientin, Isovitexin

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Grace, O.M., et al., Chemosystematic evaluation of Aloe section Pictae (Asphodelaceae), Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 57-62 (2010), doi:10.1016/j.bse.2009.10.009