Bioactive compounds produced by clones of Rhodiola rosea maintained in the Norwegian germplasm collection.

Roseroot, Rhodiola rosea, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Crassulaceae. The rhizomes of 95 roseroot clones in the Norwegian germplasm collection were analysed and quantified for their content of the bioactive compounds rosavin, salidroside, rosin, cinnamyl alcohol and tyrosol using HPLC analysis. All five bioactive compounds were detected in all 95 roseroot clones but in highly variable quantities. The ranges observed for the different compounds were for rosavin 2.90-85.95 mg g(-1), salidroside 0.03-12.85 mg g(-1), rosin 0.08-4.75 mg g(-1), tyrosol 0.04-2.15 mg g(-1) and cinnamyl alcohol 0.02-1.18 mg g(-1). The frequency distribution of the chemical content of each clone did not reflect a certain geographic region of origin or the gender of the plant. Significant correlations were found for the contents of several of these bioactive compounds in individual roseroot clones. A low, but not significant correlation was found between AFLP markers previously used to study the genetic diversity of the roseroot clones and their production of the chemical compounds. The maximum level of rosavin, rosin and salidroside observed were higher than for any roseroot plant previously reported in literature, and the roseroot clones characterized in this study might therefore prove to be of high pharmacological value.