Study Of The Iridoidic Content Of The Roots Of Ajuga chamaepitys (L.) Schreb Subsp. chamaepitys

Ajuga chamaepitys (L.) Schreb subsp. chamaepitys is a herbaceous annual plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family. It is also known as Ground Pine and in Italy it’s widely present in almost all the territory. In this work we report the first study of the ethanolic fraction obtained from the fasciculate taproots1 of the plant collected in Roccamattea (Pievebovigliana, central Italy, N43°05’53”; E13°07’37”, 370 m a.s.l.) in May 2014. Three certain compounds were isolated and already identified namely harpagide, 8-acetyl-harpagide and deacetyl-asperulosidic-acid, while two others are still under study. For what concerns the iridoidic pattern, harpagide and 8-acetyl-harpagide are considered chemotaxonomic markers of the Ajuga genera since they have been previously identified in near species such as A. reptans and A. decumbens. On the other side, it’s very important to underline the detection of deacetyl-asperulosidic-acid which is actually unusual in this family. In fact, this is the first time that this compound is found in this family. Instead, it’s peculiar in the Rubiaceae family where it has been often evidenced, and in particular in the Rubioideae subfamily. The occurrence of asperuloside derivatives in this plant could eventually suggest a reconsideration of the chemotaxonomic markers in the Ajugoideae subfamily.