Hypericum spp. volatile profilings and their potential significance in the quality control of new valuable raw material

The genus Hypericum (Guttiferae) is one of the most representative species in temperate zones [1, 2]. Due to the increasing commercial value of Hyperici herba (Hypericum perforatum), many other Hypericum species have received considerable renewed interest in the last years. In fact, several species have been recently investigated especially for their content in hypericins and flavonoids as potential substitutes of the well-established H. perforatum. However, particular attention should be given also to their volatile constituents, which could play a crucial role not only in the chemotaxonomic classification, but also as new target compounds for quality control procedures. The present preliminary study points out some Hypericum volatiles as potential inter-species discriminating phytochemicals to perform two quality control tasks, namely: − to define volatile fingerprint of new valuable species with similar composition in the typical standardisable active principles (hypericins, hyperphorins and flavonoids); − to avoid contamination in H. perforatum raw plant material with other wild collected Hypericum spp. the well-established medicinal use of which has not yet been evaluated for the EU market.