Phylogenetic and Chemical Analyses of the Medicinal Plant Salvia circinnata: an Approach to Understand Metabolomics Differences

Salvia circinnata Cav. (Syn. S. amarissima Ortega), Lamiaceae, is a Mexican medicinal plant used in traditional medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal illness, cancer, and diabetes. Samples of ten natural populations were analyzed by application of a systematic approach which involved the combination of DNA barcoding, GC–MS, HPLC–DAD, and HPLC-FLD for differentiation of their chemical profiles. Taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses indicated that all of them belong to the same analyzed plant species. The GC–MS analysis showed the presence of alkanes, amides, anthraquinones, and sesquiterpenoids in the volatile fraction of the extracts. HPLC–PDA and HPLC-FLD analyses indicated that at least four chemotypes exist for the analyzed species, diverging in the production of clerodane diterpenes: (i) an amarissinin A–rich population; (ii) another single population producer of amarisolide A; (iii) producing populations of teotihuacanin and amarissinin A, (iv) while another population only produced alkanes and sesquiterpenes as distinctive constituents not previously reported for this plant. The multivariate statistical analysis suggests that this chemical diversity depends on environmental factors. Graphical abstract