Lp. Christensen et K. Kristiansen, Isolation and quantification of tuliposides and tulipalins in tulips (Tulipa) by high-performance liquid chromatography, CONTACT DER, 40(6), 1999, pp. 300-309
The content of tuliposides and tulipalins were determined in Tulipa species
and cultivars by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP
-HPLC)I using a water:methanol gradient as mobile phase. The compounds were
detected by a diode array detector employed at 208 nm. The investigation r
evealed, in addition to 1- and 6-tuliposide A. tuliposide D and the lactoni
zed aglycones tulipalin A and (-)-tulipalin B, the new tuliposide F and 6-t
uliposide B, the latter being a new acyl derivative of the known 1-tuliposi
de B. All compounds were isolated by preparative RP-HPLC and identified by
NMR and mass spectroscopy. The predominant compounds were 6-tuliposide A an
d B present in amounts up to 1.5% and 1.3% of fresh weight, respectively. 6
-Tuliposide A and tulipalin A seem to be the major allergens in tulips, alt
hough tuliposide D and F may also contribute to the allergenic properties.
Tulipalin A and (-)-tulipalin B occur in intact tulips and are not only pro
duced in response to fungal attack or after excision of the plants. A few s
pecies were found to have very low allergen content and a relatively high l
evel of tuliposide B, indicating it should be possible to breed non-allerge
nic and disease-resistant tulips.