IJUP08 - Universidade do Porto

Screening of Phenolic compounds with Bioactivity in Pieris
brassicae L. Reared on Brassica rapa var rapa L. using HPLC-
DAD-MS/MS-ESI
D. M. Pereira 1 , A. Noites 1 F. Ferreres 2 P. Valentão 1 , R. M. Seabra 1 and P. B. Andrade 1
1 REQUIMTE/ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Oporto,
Portugal email: david.ffup@gmail.com
2 Research Group on Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant Foods, Department of Food Science
and Technology, CEBAS (CSIC), Murcia, Spain
In this research we proceeded to the study of Pieris brassicae, a frequent pest of some
species, as a source of compounds with interest for health. The phenolic profiles of P.
brassicae at different development stages (larvae, exuviae and butterfly), its excrements
and its host plant, Brassica rapa var. rapa L., were determined by HPLC-DAD-MS/MS-
ESI (Fig.1). Twenty five acylated and nonacylated flavonoid glycosides, as well as ferulic
and sinapic acids, were identified in host plant, from which only twelve compounds were
found in the excrements. In addition, the excrements showed the presence of sulphate
flavonoids and other flavonoid glycosides, not detected in the leaves of the host plant. In
the larvae kept without food for twelve hours, only three compounds common to the plant
material and two others also present in the excrements were characterized.
Brassica rapa var rapa
Pieris brassicae
Fig. 1. Detection at 330 nm. (1) kaempferol-3-O-(methoxycaffeoyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside; (2) quercetin-3-O-
(sinapoyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside; (3) quercetin-3-O-(feruloyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside; (4) quercetin-3-O-
(p-coumaroyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside; (5) kaempferol-3-O-(sinapoyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside; (6)
kaempferol-3-O-(feruloyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside; (7) kaempferol-3-O-(p-coumaroyl)sophoroside-7-Oglucoside;
(8) p-coumaric acid; (9) kaempferol-3,7-di-O-glucoside; (10) isorhamnetin-3,7-di-O-glucoside; (11)
ferulic acid; (12) sinapic acid; (13) kaempferol-3-O-(feruloyl)sophoroside-7-O-glucoside (isomere); (14)
kaempferol-3-O-(methoxycaffeoyl)sophoroside; (15) kaempferol-3-O-(caffeoyl)sophoroside; (16) kaempferol-3-
O-sophoroside; (17) kaempferol-3-O-(feruloyl)sophoroside; (18) kaempferol-3-O-glucoside; (19) isorhamnetin-3-
O-glucoside.(20) quercetin-3-O-sophoroside; (21) kaempferol-3-O-(p-coumaroyl)sophoroside (isomere).
Antioxidant potential was studied against DPPH . radical and a reactive oxygen species
(superoxide radical). The three samples showed an effective activity against both radicals
in a concentration-dependant manner, with larvae displaying the strongest capacity against
DPPH . , while excrements were the most effective superoxide radical scavenger. So, the
matrices studied herein, may constitute a promising source of bioactive complex
compounds, hard to be isolated or synthesized in the laboratory due to its high structural
complexity.
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