Chemical Profiling on Bioactive Stilbenoids in the Seeds of Paeonia Species Growing Wild in Greece

Abstract

The seeds of Paeonia clusii Stern subsp. clusii and Paeonia mascula (L.) Mill. subsp. mascula growing wild in Greece, though not previously investigated, has been studied as a source of bioactive stilbenoids and other phenolics. Their methanol extracts were analyzed using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography—high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS), and among the identified metabolites (62), 19 paeoniflorin’s derivatives, 17 flavonoids and 12 stilbenes were detected. Moreover, through classic phytochemical separation procedures, twelve among them were isolated and fully spectrally determined as trans-resveratrol, trans-resveratrol-4′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, cis-resveratrol-4′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, trans-gnetin-H, trans-ε-viniferin, luteolin, luteolin-3′-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, luteolin-3′,4′-di-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, apigenin, hispidulin, paeoniflorin and benzoyl-paeoniflorin. All seed extracts were measured for their total phenolic content (TPC), appearing as a rich source (116.04 and 103.63 mg GAE/g extract, respectively), followed by free radical (DPPH) scavenging capacity (75.24% and 91.54% inhibition at the concentration of 200 μg/mL). The evaluation of tyrosinase inhibition for both extracts (61% and 70%, respectively) confirmed the potential for their future application in skin health care, comparable with other paeonies of Chinese origin, which are well-known as skin whitening and anti-aging promoters.