Targeted Screening and Quantification of Characteristic Sesquiterpene Lactones in Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. at Different Growth Stages.

Sesquiterpene lactones are specialized plant metabolites with promising pharmacological activities. These metabolites are characteristic marker compounds for the aerial parts of Ambrosia artemisiifolia . Numerus sesquiterpene lactones have been isolated from ragweed; however, there is no information on their bioproduction and quantification throughout the life cycle of the plant. The sesquiterpene lactone content of ragweed samples collected in Szeged and Nyíri was analyzed using HPLC. Significant differences in the amount and bioproduction rhythm of sesquiterpene lactones were found between the two sets of samples. The samples collected near Szeged contained significantly lower amounts of the investigated compounds compared to the Nyíri samples. Sesquiterpene lactone production in the samples peaked at the end of July or in August; the trend of the change in sesquiterpene lactones might correlate with precipitation and temperature. Geographical location and geoclimatic factors might exert significant influence on the production of sesquiterpene lactones in ragweed.