Description
The vast genus of Taraxacum species, commonly known as dandelion, is often
found in warm regions of the northern hemisphere. Used since ancient times in
folk medicine for their curative properties, dandelion presents very interesting
bioactive properties111• The incessant search and investigation for new and safe
bioactive compounds is, nowadays, a milestone for ethnomedicine. In the
present work, the individual phenolic profile of the methanolic extracts,
infusions and decoctions of flowers and vegetative parts of wild Taraxacum sect
Ruderalia was evaluated by HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS, and compared.
Hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives were the major phenolic acids found in the
samples, including caffeic acid derivatives, caffeoylquinic acid derivatives and
chicoric acid; the latter was the main compound in all the preparations of
vegetative parts and also in flowers decoction. Regarding flavonoids, it was only
possible to tentatively identify luteolin derivatives on flowers and quercetin and
luteolin derivatives on vegetative parts. The flowers methanolic extract showed
the highest flavonoids content, mainly luteolin 0-hexoside (11.06 mg/g extract),
while the vegetative parts extract gave the highest phenolic acids content
(43.24 mg/g extract), mainly chicoric acid and its derivatives followed by caffeic
acid and its derivatives. All the preparations showed similar phenolic profile
although the methanolic extracts gave higher contents on total phenolics
followed by infusions and decoctions. As far as we know, there are no
previously reports on the comparison of the phenolic profile in different parts
and preparations of dendalion. Due to the bioactive potential of phenolic
compounds, further studies should be conducted in order to evaluate the role
of the mentioned compounds in bioactivity of dendalion.
; Barros, Lillian 
