Variation of hypericin in St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) from wild populations of Northern Turkey

Hypericum perforatum L. (St. John's wort) is a well-known traditional medicinal plant that has been used for centuries for the treatment of several diseases and this feature is obviously attributed to the presence of a broad spectrum of secondary metabolites including hypericins. In the present study, the aim was to determine total hypericin content of this plant from wild population of Northern Turkey. Thus, Hypericum perforatum plants representing a total of 45 wild populations were collected from 15 sites in each of 3 regions, during flowering and subsequently assayed for total hypericin. Hypericin content in these wild populations varied from 0.28 to 4.46 mg/g dry matter. According to the results of analysis of variance, there was a significant difference in hypericin content between sites as well as regions. One of the problems associated with medicinal plant preparations is the extreme variability in the phytomedicinal and marker compounds. Products containing H. perforatum have varied greatly in content of secondary metabolites since it is currently supplied by cultivated and wild-harvested materials. Therefore the variation of phytomedicinals like hypericin in H. perforatum, especially from wild populations has a great importance in term of health care and herbal industry