Changes in Individual and Group Compositions of Polyphenols in Leaves of Lonicera caerulea subsp. altaica and Spiraea chamaedryfolia as Related to Chemical Element Contents in Soil and Plants on Ultra-alkaline Parent Rock Material

Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the contents of main classes of biologically active polyphenols in leaf extracts were analyzed in the medicinal species Spiraea chamaedryfolia L. (Rosaceae) and Lonicera caerulea subsp. altaica L. (Caprifoliaceae). Their features were studied in relation to the macroelement and trace element contents in soil and phytomass in sites with sporadic occurrence of serpentinites in the Altai Mountains. A total of 16 polyphenolic compounds were identified for the first time in S. chamaedryfolia leaf extracts. Of these, three compounds were attributed to phenol carboxylic acids; ten, to flavonols; two, to flavones; and one was identified as a flavanone. In L. caerulea subsp. altaica, the analysis confirmed the polyphenolic composition measured earlier, including hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonols, and flavones, and identified an additional compound as a flavanone. Species-specific shifts in plant secondary metabolism were found to occur in response to specific edaphic properties and the accumulation of macroelements and trace elements in leaves of plants growing in an area with a natural geochemical anomaly.