QUANTITATION OF ARYLTETRALIN LIGNANS IN PLANT-PARTS AND AMONG DIFFERENT POPULATIONS OF PODOPHYLLUM-PELTATUM BY REVERSED-PHASE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A simple procedure for the extraction of aryltetralin lignans from Pod ophyllum peltatum with addition of an internal standard (acetylpodophy llotoxin) was developed. Plant material was separated into rhizomes an d roots, petioles, and blades, and the lignan content of the ground ti ssue of these different parts was analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC. Pod ophyllotoxin and seven of its congeners were quantified. It was observ ed that the lignan content of the different plant parts may differ by orders of magnitude. More significantly, this degree of variation foun d among tissues of plant parts was not consistent from one population to another. The recovery of podophyllotoxin and acetylpodophyllotoxin in these different tissues is discussed.