Prof. dr. sc. Željan Maleš

Department of Pharmaceutical Botany

Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry

University of Zagreb

Schrottova 39

ROCK SAMPHIRE - CRITHMUM MARITIMUM L.

Rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum L. (Apiaceae), is a fleshy, glabrous, very branched aromatic perennial, woody at base, up to 50 cm high. This plant can be found on cliffs and rocks or, more rarely, in shingle or sand by the sea. It grows on the Atlantic coast of Europe from Britain southwards, the coasts of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Macaronesia. C. maritimum is used as an antiscorbutic, diuretic, condiment and pickle.

Thin-layer chromatographic analysis of flavonoids and phenolic acids indicated the presence of rutin, hyperoside and chlorogenic acid in the aerial parts of rock samphire. Quantitative spectrometric analyses of the contents of flavonoids, tannins and total polyphenols in the aerial parts, collected from three separated geographic locations along the Adriatic coast of Croatia in different growth stages, indicated that the highest content of flavonoids was found in the samples collected before flowering, while the highest contents of tannins and total polyphenols were found in the samples collected before flowering and at the beginning of flowering.

Composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of C. maritimum collected from the same locality in Croatia in different growth stages was analysed by GC and GC-MS. The main essential oil components of all samples were monoterpenes: limonene (33.1-49.9%), sabinene (26.4-43.5%), thymol methyl ether (4.4-8.6%) and g -terpinene (2.6-5.3%).

Thin-layer chromatography was used for the qualitative analysis of amino acids. The following 9 amino acids were recorded: leucine, phenylalanine, valine, tyrosine, proline, alanine, serine, lysine and histidine. The composition of amino acids was dependent on the growth stage.