Scartezzini P, Antognoni F, Conte L, Maxia A, Troìa A, Poli F
Department of Biology E.S, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
Nat Prod Res. 2007 Aug;21(10):923-32. doi: 10.1080/14786410701500169.
The geographical distribution of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is quite wide. However, in Italy, this species is very rare and grows spontaneously only in Sicily and in Sardinia. The PCR-RAPD technique has been utilized in this work to determine the genetic relationship among Sicilian, Sardinian and Indian samples and the HPLC analysis of whitaferin A was used as a marker to evaluate the phytochemical differences. The genetic difference between Indian and Sicilian plants of W. somnifera turned out to be smaller than that between Indian and Sardinian plants of this species. The phytochemical analysis as well showed that the Sardinian specimen strongly differed from the Indian and Sicilian ones in its contents of withaferin A. Our results seem to confirm the hypothesis that the Italian populations of this species may not be indigenous but naturalised. Due to the high withaferin A content of the Sardinian samples, these plants could be used as a source for pharmaceutical purposes.
睡茄（Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal）的地理分布相当广泛。然而，在意大利，该物种非常罕见，仅在西西里岛和撒丁岛自然生长。本研究采用PCR-RAPD技术来确定西西里岛、撒丁岛和印度样本之间的遗传关系，并以白屈菜红碱A的HPLC分析作为评估植物化学差异的标记。结果表明，睡茄印度植株与西西里岛植株之间的遗传差异小于该物种印度植株与撒丁岛植株之间的遗传差异。植物化学分析也表明，撒丁岛样本中白屈菜红碱A的含量与印度和西西里岛样本有很大差异。我们的结果似乎证实了这一假设，即该物种在意大利的种群可能并非本土原生，而是归化而来。由于撒丁岛样本中白屈菜红碱A含量较高，这些植株可作为药用来源。
