Biodiversity in the alkaloids of Turkish Papaver species*
Günay Sariyar
University of Istanbul, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department
of Pharmacognosy, 34452, Istanbul, Turkey
Abstract: There are about 35 Papaver species growing in Turkey,
which are grouped into eight sections, namely Argemonidium, Carinata,
Glauca, Miltantha, Oxytona, Papaver, Pilosa, and Rhoeadium.
As a result of our extensive work on the alkaloids of Turkish Papaver
species the presence of several chemotypes has been shown. Among these
chemotypes, medicinally important alkaloids such as noscapine (=narcotine),
papaverine- and thebaine-containing samples have been found as new sources
for the production of them.
The infraspecific variation encountered within the Papaver species
has been demonstrated mainly in two sections of the genus, Miltantha
and Oxytona. The alkaloids of seven species (Papaver armeniacum, P.
curviscapum, P. cylindricum, P. fugax, P. persicum, P. polychaetum,
and P. triniifolium) of the section Miltantha have been studied, and
the existence of chemical strains has been shown mainly in P. fugax,
P. persicum, and P. triniifolium.
Investigations on the species of the section Oxytona indicated that
there is a relationship between the major alkaloid content and the chromosome
numbers of the samples.
Isolation of new secoberbine-type alkaloids as well as promorphinane-
and morphinane-types has revealed the biosynthetic relationship between
the alkaloids of Miltantha and Oxytona species. Chemical races are also
known for species of Papaver within other sections of the genus.
P. lateritium of Turkish origin from section Pilosa yielded some secoberbine
and protoberberine types, whereas P. rhopalothece of the section Rhoeadium
contained narcotine as a major alkaloid. Isolation of spirobenzylisoquinoline
type from P. argemone (sect. Argemonidium) was the first report of the
occurrence of this type in the Papaveraceae.
* Lecture presented at the 3rd IUPAC International
Conference on Biodiversity (ICOB-3), Antalya, Turkey, 3-8 November 2001.
Other presentations are presented in this issue, pp. 511–584.
** Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author.
