Visual chromatography has been employed for a preliminary identification of natural compound of a group of sesquiterpene lactones – Centaurea bella Trautv., C. crocodylium L., C. lusitanica Boiss. et Reuter, Helenium hoopesii A. Gray = Dugaldia hoopesii (A. Gray) Rydb., Stizolophus balsamita (Lam.) Cass., Zoegea baldschuanica C. Winkl., germacranes – Santolina pinnata Viv. subsp. neapolitana (Jord. et Fourr.) Guinea = S. neapolitana Jord. et Fourr. A dependence of the colour of the spots, induced by anisaldehyde reagent, on the presence of several substituents in the germacranolide ring – derivatives of partnenolide and salonitenolide – has been identified. The structures of the skeleton in the ring of sesquiterpene lactones in Helenium hoopesii can also be established by thin layer chromatography (TLC). The analysis of the chromatograms of extracts from dry and fresh Centaurea crocodylium herb has shown significant differences as for the chemical composition. Two sorts of germacranes of Santolina pinnata subsp. neapolitana display a characteristic colour of the spots.
Multiple shoots of Telekia speciosa were cultivated on MS medium containing 4.44 µM BAP and 0.54 µM NAA, solidified with agar. After eight weeks of culture the shoots were harvested and extracted with methanol. From the methanol extract one pseudoguaianolide – 2,3-dihydroaromaticin and three thymol derivatives: 8-hydroxy-9,10-diisobutyryloxythymol, 10-isobutyryloxy-8,9-epoxythymyl isobutyrate and 10-(2-methylbutyryloxy)-8,9-epoxythymyl isobutyrate were isolated as major secondary metabolites. Moreover, the shoots produced megastigmane and monoterpene glucosides, which were isolated for the first time from the species. The content of 2,3-dihydroaromaticin in the shoot culture was similar to that found in the intact plant, whereas yields of the three thymol derivatives were higher from multiple shoots than from the plants grown in the open field.