Tocochromanols in the Leaves of Plants in the Hypericum and Clusia Genera.

Now under Clusiaceae and Hypericaceae, Clusia and Hypericum were previously categorized under one family until they were divided in 2003 by the APG III system. The Clusia genus is characterized by the presence of tocotrienol derivatives with antiangiogenic properties, and only Hypericum perforatum tocochromanol content has been studied in the Hypericum genus. Twelve species were analyzed: H. aegypticum , H. calycinum , H. empetrifolium , H. lancasteri , H. olympicum f. minus 'Sulphureum', H. perforatum , H. xylosteifolium , C. fluminensis , C. minor , C. odorata , C. palmicida , and C. tocuchensis . Plant leaves were analyzed for their tocochromanol (α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocotrienol and tocopherol) contents using a reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescent light detector (RP-HPLC-FLD) method. While α-tocopherol (α-T) was present in the highest proportion, the leaves had significant tocotrienol (T3) contents. Following α-T, δ-T3 was present in most Clusia samples, and γ-T3 in most Hypericum samples, except H. olympicum , in which α-T3 followed. C. minor had the highest α-T (112.72 mg 100 g ^-1 ) and total tocochromanol (141.43 mg 100 g ^-1 ) content, followed by C. palmicida (65.97 and 82.96 mg 100 g ^-1 , respectively) and H. olympicum (α-T 32.08, α-T3 30.68, and total tocochromanols 89.06 mg 100 g ^-1 ). The Hypericum genus is a valuable source of tocotrienols, with potential use after purification.