Isolation and quantification of tuliposides and tulipalins in tulips (Tulipa) by high-performance liquid chromatography

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.