Variability of Major Phenyletanes and Phenylpropanoids in 16-Year-Old Rhodiola rosea L. Clones in Norway.

Rhodiola roseaL. (roseroot) is an adaptogen plant belonging to the Crassulaceae family. The broad spectrum of biological activity ofR. roseais attributed to its major phenyletanes and phenylpropanoids: rosavin, salidroside, rosin, cinnamyl alcohol, and tyrosol. In this study, we compared the content of phenyletanes and phenylpropanoids in rhizomes ofR. roseafrom the Norwegian germplasm collection collected in 2004 and in 2017. In general, the content of these bioactive compounds in 2017 was significantly higher than that observed in 2004. The freeze-drying method increased the concentration of all phenyletanes and phenylpropanoids in rhizomes compared with conventional drying at 70 degrees C. As far as we know, the content of salidroside (51.0 mg g(-1)) observed in this study is the highest ever detected inRhodiolaspp. Long-term vegetative propagation and high genetic diversity ofR. roseatogether with the freeze-drying method may have led to the high content of the bioactive compounds observed in the current study.