<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Milk thistle [<italic>Silybum marianum</italic> (L.) Gaertn.], a member of <italic>Asteraceae</italic> family, is one of the most cultivated medicinal plants widespread throughout the world. The pharmacological drug is a ripe fruit without pappus – Silybi mariani fructus – containing flavonolignans and generating silymarin complex. In folk medicine, it is used for the treatment of liver disorders, kidney problems, rheumatism as well as gastronomic disturbances, cardiac and neurotic disorders, and fever. The components of silymarin complex are useful in cancer prevention and treatment. The aim of the study was to determine the amount of silymarin complex contained in the fruit of the harvest of two consecutive years and how much they differ from one another. Representative samples of fruit were collected in 2015 and 2016 and distributed by a company Agrofos (Slovakia). Regarding the analytical method, we used a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); the method was approved by the European Pharmacopoeia 10. The statistical significance was on the level <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05. The total content of silymarin complex was 15.28 ± 0.06 g.kg−1 (in 2015) and 16.65 ± 0.09 g.kg−1 (in 2016). In both studied years, the highest representation of silybin B was observed (7.04 ± 0.07 g.kg−1 versus 5.92 ± 0.08 g.kg−1). The differences between the individual fractions of the silymarin complex were statistically significant. There was also a significant difference of 9% in the total silymarin content between 2015 and 2016. In conclusion, we can state that both samples of Silybi mariani fructus meet the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia.
</abstract>

Milk thistle [Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.], a member of Asteraceae family, is one of the most cultivated medicinal plants widespread throughout the world. The pharmacological drug is a ripe fruit without pappus – Silybi mariani fructus – containing flavonolignans and generating silymarin complex. In folk medicine, it is used for the treatment of liver disorders, kidney problems, rheumatism as well as gastronomic disturbances, cardiac and neurotic disorders, and fever. The components of silymarin complex are useful in cancer prevention and treatment. The aim of the study was to determine the amount of silymarin complex contained in the fruit of the harvest of two consecutive years and how much they differ from one another. Representative samples of fruit were collected in 2015 and 2016 and distributed by a company Agrofos (Slovakia). Regarding the analytical method, we used a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); the method was approved by the European Pharmacopoeia 10. The statistical significance was on the level P < 0.05. The total content of silymarin complex was 15.28 ± 0.06 g.kg−1 (in 2015) and 16.65 ± 0.09 g.kg−1 (in 2016). In both studied years, the highest representation of silybin B was observed (7.04 ± 0.07 g.kg−1 versus 5.92 ± 0.08 g.kg−1). The differences between the individual fractions of the silymarin complex were statistically significant. There was also a significant difference of 9% in the total silymarin content between 2015 and 2016. In conclusion, we can state that both samples of Silybi mariani fructus meet the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia.

Evaluation of variability of silymarin complex in Silybi mariani fructus harvested during two production years

Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy and Botany

Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra

Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Department of Sustainable Agriculture and Herbology

European Pharmaceutical Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Milk thistle [Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.], a member of Asteraceae family, is one of the most cultivated medicinal plants widespread throughout the world....

Silymarin components	Mean ± SD	Median
Silychristin	4.03 ± 0.24^a	3.97
Silydianin	1.76 ± 0.14^b	1.78
Silybin A	2.96 ± 0.15^a	2.99
Silybin B	5.92 ± 0.08^c	5.92
Isosilybin A + B	1.98 ± 0.05^d	2.00
Summary	16.65 ± 0.09^B	16.66

Silymarin components	Mean ± SD	Median
Silychristin	3.18 ± 0.06^a	3.18
Silydianin	0.91 ± 0.01^b	0.90
Silybin A	3.06 ± 0.06^c	3.07
Silybin B	7.04 ± 0.07^d	7.07
Isosilybin A + B	1.09 ± 0.05^e	1.10
Summary	15.28 ± 0.06^A	15.27

Evaluation of variability of silymarin complex in Silybi mariani fructus harvested during two production years

Article Category: Original Paper

Publié en ligne: 09 juil. 2021

Pages: 40 - 45

Reçu: 24 janv. 2021

Accepté: 28 avr. 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/afpuc-2020-0023

Mots clés
Silybum marianum, silymarin complex, HPLC

© 2021 M. Habán et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Fractions of silymarin complex (g.kg−1) in Silybi mariani fructus, 2016 (n = 4).

Fractions of silymarin complex (g.kg−1) in Silybi mariani fructus, 2015 (n = 4).

Evaluation of variability of silymarin complex in Silybi mariani fructus harvested during two production years

Article Category: Original Paper

Publié en ligne: 09 juil. 2021

Pages: 40 - 45

Reçu: 24 janv. 2021

Accepté: 28 avr. 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/afpuc-2020-0023

Mots clésSilybum marianum, silymarin complex, HPLC

© 2021 M. Habán et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Fractions of silymarin complex (g.kg−1) in Silybi mariani fructus, 2016 (n = 4).

Fractions of silymarin complex (g.kg−1) in Silybi mariani fructus, 2015 (n = 4).

Mots clés
Silybum marianum, silymarin complex, HPLC