The study of flavonoid patterns diversity in five Stachys species in Iran

Stachys L. (Lamiaceae family, Lamioideae sub family) genus with enormous medicinal properties is one of the largest genera of this family. Due to the similarity among the species, high morphological diversity and several hybridizations, the taxonomy of this genus is greatly complicated. Consequently, the aim of this research is to study the flavonoid diversity, identify the flavonoid class and determine the taxonomical position of five species and three subspecies belonging to four sections. Therefore, the leaf flavonoid was extracted by methanol solvent and thin layer chromatography. In order to determine the flavonoid class, column chromatography and cephadex was used. As well, the diversity of flavonoid patterns and the taxonomic position of species and accessions were studied using cluster analysis. The results of cluster analysis showed that the highest flavonoid diversity was observed in St. lavandulifolia Vahl. Moreover, six flavonoid classes were identified which mostly included flavone and the variations of flavonoid patterns were hydroxylation, methoxylation and glucosylation. Obviously, St. setifera subsp. daenensis was separated from St. setifera subsp. setifera and St. setifera subsp. iranica using five kinds of flavones and a kind of flavonol. Based on the results of this study, the flavonoid compounds are useful to determine the position of Stachys species.