Phytochemical analysis and ethno-pharmacological importance of the fruits of Hypericum androsaemum L

Hypericum androsaemum L., better known as tutsan, is a small evergreen shrub belonging to the Hypericaceae family, section Androsaemum (Duhamel) Godr. It grows abundantly in damp woods and hedgerows in the entire Mediterranean basin and especially in Europe where it has been used in folk medicine especially as diuretic and to cure several ailments in liver and kidneys [1] but also to heal cuts and wounds [2]. From a botanical point of view, this species is quite known for producing fruits that become more or less fleshy at ripening with a berry-like shape. Our work started with the idea to discover if there was any connection between the historical properties associated to this plant and its real content in secondary metabolites. The methodology applied to this study comprised: extraction of the fruits with ethanol 96%; chromatographic separations on silica gel columns with different eluting systems; identification of components by NMR spectroscopy and Mass spectrometry. The phytochemical analysis evidenced the presence of five compounds namely 1,2,3,5- tetrahydroxyxanthone (1), isoquercitrin (2), 7-O-glucosil-luteolin (3), chlorogenic acid (4) and shikimic acid (5) [3]. Compound (1) represents a new phytochemical for the genus while all the others have already been evidenced in this species or genus. Nevertheless, all these compounds present several important and interesting pharmacological activities among which the anti-oxidant and the anti-inflammatory ones are the most peculiar and relevant [4]. In conclusion, these results support, from a phytochemical standpoint, the uses of H. androsaemum in ethno-medicine and clearly answer positively to our preliminary question.