Phytochemistry and Biological Activities of Iris Species Growing in Iraqi Kurdistan and Phenolic Constituents of the Traditional Plant Iris postii

A dozen Iris species (Iridaceae) are considered traditional remedies in Kurdistan, especially for treating inflammations. Phytochemical studies are still scarce. The information reported in the literature about Iris species growing in Kurdistan has been summarized in the first part of this paper, although, except for Iris persica, investigations have been performed on vegetal samples collected in countries different from Kurdistan. In the second part of the work, we have investigated, for the first time, the contents of the methanolic extracts of Iris postii aerial parts and rhizomes that were collected in Kurdistan. Both extracts exhibited a significant dose-dependent free radical scavenging and total antioxidant activities, comparable to those of ascorbic acid. Medium-pressure liquid chromatographic separations of the two extracts afforded l-tryptophan, androsin, isovitexin, swertisin, and 2 ''-O-alpha-l-rhamnopyranosyl swertisin from the aerial parts, whereas epsilon-viniferin, trans-resveratrol 3,4 '-O-di-beta-d-glucopyranoside, and isotectorigenin were isolated from the rhizomes. This is the first finding of the last three metabolites from an Iris species. The various remarkable biological activities of isolated compounds scientifically sustain the traditional use of I. postii as a medicinal plant.