Phenolic compound contents of hypericum species from Turkey

Hypericaceae is a small cosmopolite dicot family of tree, shrub, and herb. Hypericum is the largest genus of Hypericaceae comprising of about 484 species throughout the world. In Turkey, Hypericum is represented by 96 species, 104 taxa in which 45 of them are endemic. The genus Hypericum is known worldwide with its wide folk medicinal usage. The extracts of Hypericum perforatum L., the most abundant and well-known species, are now widely used in Europe as a drug for the treatment of mild-to-moderate depression. In Turkish traditional medicine, Hypericum L. species have been known under the names “kantaron, peygamber çiçeği, kılıçotu, kanotu, kuzukıran, and binbirdelik otu” and used for the treatment of burns, wounds, bacterial and viral infections, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, and ulcers. The pharmacological studies revealed that this species has antitumor, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-nociceptive, and wound healing activity. The value of Hypericum plants has been mainly attributed to the phytochemicals, namely naphthodianthrones (e.g., hypericin and pseudohypericin), acylphloroglucinol derivatives (e.g., hyperforin and adhyperforin), flavonoids (e.g., quercetin, quercitrin, hyperoside, and biapigenin), n-alkanes, tannins, xanthones and essential oils they possess. Due to their phytochemical composition and waste usage in traditional folk medicine, many studies were made on biological activities of different species extracts of Hypericum in Turkey and the world. Turkey is an important prevalence center of Hypericum species. This review will investigate the phenolic compound contents of Hypericum species in Turkish flora.