Variation in the Production of Sedative and Anxiolytic Compounds Among Galphimia sp. Populations Grown in a Greenhouse

Galphimia glauca Cav., Malpighiaceae, is used as a tranquilizer in Mexico. Its active compounds are nor-secofriedelane triterpenes known as galphimines. Using metabolic profiling, we previously demonstrated that individuals obtained in two localities out of the seven analyzed, exhibited accumulation of galphimines. In the present work, we tested the hypothesis that this accumulation responds to genetic control. Galphimia sp. individuals were collected from six previously studied populations, located in five Mexican states (Doctor Mora in Guanajuato, Jalpan in Queretaro, Cuernavaca and Tepoztlan in Morelos, Guadalajara in Jalisco, and Tuxtla Gutierrez in Chiapas), and transplanted to grow under uniform greenhouse conditions, for a period of 11 months. A phytochemical analysis using chromatographic procedures was performed for all individuals upon arrival and after 11 months of controlled growth. Results indicated that only two populations (Doctor Mora, Guanajuato, and Jalpan, Queretaro), out of the six that were collected, produced galphimines before and after controlled growth, exhibiting the same chemotype pattern in the greenhouse, as in the wild. However, evident changes in foliar morphology, probably due to phenotypic plasticity, were observed in all the acclimatized plants.