Quantitative Micrograph, HPLC and FTIR profiles of Melissa officinalis and Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae) from Argentina

MARTA E. PETENATTI; GETTE, MARIA; GERARDO CAMÍ; MARIANA C POPOVICH; MARCHEVSKY E; DEL VITTO L. A; ELISA M. PETENATTI

REVISTA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS AGRARIAS DE LA UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CUYO

UNIV NACIONAL CUYO

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2014 vol. 46 p. 15 - 27

0370-4661

ABSTRACTMelissa officinalis L., so called "Melissa" or"Toronjil", is a perennial aromatic herb, whoseleaves are used in traditional medicine as acarminative, digestive and sedative, both in simpleas in mixtures. Meanwhile, Nepeta cataria L.,commonly called "Cat mint" or "Toronjil", with somesimilar properties, often replacing M. officinalis inthe market, although their chemical compositionis not completely matched, and contains an iridoidpotentially toxic (nepetalactone). It is thereforenecessary to establish diacritic parameters todifferentiate these species, both at crude druglevel, mixtures and extracts. Samples fromvarious sources in Argentina were studiedand documental specimens are preserved inthe Herbarium UNSL. Anatomical sectionswere analyzed, and quantitative micrographicparameters were obtained, together with HPLCand FTIR spectra from methanolic and aqueouslyophilized extracts. Significant differences weredetected in the prevailing smell foliage, morphologyof leaves and inflorescences, trichomata type,palisade ratio, veinlet termination number,rosmarinic acid concentration (with distinctiveHPLC profiles), and the CO/CH relationshipsobtained by FTIR from the extracts, that togetherallow adequate differentiation of both drugs, evenwhen they were ground or powdered.