FLAVONOIDS AS MARKERS FOR ERYTHROXYLUM TAXA - ERYTHROXYLUM-COCA VAR. IPADU AND ERYTHROXYLUM-NOVOGRANATENSE VAR. TRUXILLENSE

Leaf extracts of Erythroxylum coca var. ipadu Plowman (E. c. var. ipad u) produced five O-conjugates of taxifolin and one O-conjugate of quer cetin flavonoids, while the equivalent extract from Erythroxylum novog ranatense var. truxillense (Rusby) Plowman (E. n. var, truxillense) af forded four flavonoids: (a) the first, an O-conjugate of quercetin; (b ) the second, an O-conjugate of fisetin; and (c) the third and fourth O-conjugates of kaempferol. The flavonols of E. n. var. truxillense co ntained 4'-OEt whereas in E. c. var. ipadu none was found. E. n. var. truxillense contained the flavonol fisetin which was not found in E. c . var. ipadu and has not been previously reported for the taxa. The ma jor sugars in leaf extracts were acylated rhamnosides with either 7, 3 or 4' linkage or combinations thereof. Flavonoids of the four cultiva ted Erythroxylum taxa, all of which contain the cocaine alkaloid, diff er, and may be used as chemotaxonomic markers for the taxa. (C) 1998 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.