Determination of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid content in Epilobium spp. using HPLC

HPLC screening of pentacyclic triterpenoids (oleanolic and ursolic acids) in raw materials of ten Epilobium species (Epilobium parviflorum Schreb., Epilobium hirsutum L., Epilobium montanum L., Epilobium collinum C. C. Gmel., Epilobium roseum Schreb, Epilobium palustre L., Epilobium tetragonum L., Epilobium obscurum Schreb, Epilobium nervosum Boiss. & Buhse, Epilobium nutans F. W. Schmidt) from Ukraine were carried out. The absence of studied triterpenoids delimits E. parviflorum and E. hirsutum from other species. This distinction is not connected to climatic factors since the samples from different collection sites were tested for both species. The triterpenoid presence/absence criteria might be one of the marker in chemotaxonomic study of genus Epilobium. In the aerial part of other eight studied species ursolic acid was contained in moderate quantity (20.27±0.49 mg/100g -74.84±2.24 mg/100g) and dominated the oleanolic acid (2.03±0,05 – 32.09±0.73 mg/100g). Aerial part of E. roseum had a lowest ursolic acid content (20.27±0.49 mg/100g) and oleanolic acid was not detected in this sample. Both identified triterpenoids can contribute to anti-proliferative effect of ethanolic and nonpolar extracts of Epilobium herbs on prostate cancer cells.