Effect of leaf development on the composition of Coleus amboinicus Lour. hydroethanolic extracts

Coleus amboinicus Lour. is an aromatic shrub widely used for therapeutic and culinary purposes. Although its phytochemistry has been broadly reported in the literature, mainly essential oil composition, little is known about the effect of developmental factors on the composition of C. amboinicus extracts. Thus, we evaluated the chemical composition of C. amboinicus extracts from leaves in different stages of development via liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. After data processing and filtering, 143 and 101 mass features were detected in the negative and positive ion modes, respectively, most of which varied between at least two leaf stages. Among the compounds represented by these mass features, phenolic acids and flavonoids were annotated for this species. In general, leaves from the first and second nodes showed different composition in comparison to older leaves, indicating that a change in the chemical profile occurs towards the end of leaf expansion. This chemical variation may ultimately result in changes in the biological activities; therefore further research about the effects of developmental factors on C. amboinicus bioactivities is required.