Carotenoids and Phenolic Compounds from Ecuadorian Páramo Flowers as a Resource of Bioactive Compounds

The paramos are in the high parts of the Ecuadorian Andes, about 3500 meters above sea level, which causes a special flora, which is being lost to increased grazing. Currently, there are few studies that relate the floral species of the paramo with the bioactive compounds, thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the content of carotenoids and phenolic compounds in thirteen Ecuadorian paramo flowers. This work considered petals of Buddleja globosa, Diplostephium phylicoides, Senecio formosus, Hypericum goyanesii, Gentianella corymbosa, Calceolari microbefaria, Hypochaeris radicata, Taraxacum officinale, Hypochaeris robertia, Ageratina pichinchensis, Salvia carnea, Castilleja fissifolia y Bomarea sp which were collected in the paramo of Cochasqui-Laguna de Mojanda. Microextraction of carotenoids was performed with 10 mg of lyophilisate and 300 µL of acetone: methanol: dichloromethane (1:1:2) with an ultrasound stirring time of 1 min, this process was repeated until the supernatant showed no coloration. The extract obtained was evaporated to dryness, dissolved in ethanol and quantified by spectrophotometry. For phenols, 30 mg of lyophilisate was weighed and mixed with 500 µL of 80% HCl acidified methanol and stirred on ultrasound for 1 min, this process was repeated two more times. The supernatant was quantified by the folin-ciocalteu method with a microplate reader. The results showed ranges of total carotenoid concentrations between 0.32 (Senecio formosus) and 22.18 ug/g (Hypericum goyanesii), while total phenols range from 117.60 (Hypochaeris robertia) to 350.63 mg/g (Gentianella corymbosa). The results of this study are of interest to increase the knowledge of the flowers of Andean moords and to promote their care, protection and possible innovation in different industries promoting the use of flowers with significant content of bioactive compounds.