¹H NMR- based metabolite profiling of tropane alkaloids in Duboisia spec.

Duboisia R.Br. (Solanaceae) is the main source of the tropane alkaloid scopolamine, which is an important precursor of various active pharmaceutical ingredients due to its anticholinergic properties. As only little is known about the metabolite composition among the different species, NMRbased metabolic profiling was done in order to elucidate primary and secondary metabolism in Duboisia especially focusing on the tropane alkaloid pathway. For this purpose, plants of five different genotypes (Duboisia myoporoides, D. leichardtii and hybrids of D. myoporoides and D. leichhardtii) were cultivated under strictly controlled conditions in climate chambers, leaf and root extracts were prepared and measured via 1H NMR. 14 different metabolites could be identified using 1D- and 2D-NMR techniques. Principal component analysis of the NMR data allowed a clear distinction between Duboisia hybrids and the wild types, which could be again subgrouped in D. myoporoides and D. leichhardtii, based on the metabolites identified.