Seasonal variation of natural products in European trees

• Published in: Phytochemistry reviews Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 923 - 935
• Main Author: Zidorn, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.08.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alkaloids; Angiospermae; Angiosperms; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; branches; Chemistry/Food Science; Diterpenes; diterpenoids; Essential oils; experimental design; Flavonoids; fruits; Gymnospermae; Gymnosperms; leaves; Life Sciences; Lignans; Literature reviews; Natural products; Organic acids; Organic Chemistry; Phenolic acids; Phenols; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Sciences; Quality standards; seasonal variation; Seasonal variations; secoiridoids; stilbenoids; Tannins; Trees; Trends; Trees; Plant natural products; Chemical ecology; Holarctis; Seasonal variation
• ISSN: 1568-7767; 1572-980X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11101-018-9570-4

The present review gives an overview about the status of research on seasonal variation of natural products in European trees. Due to their different life forms, gymnosperms, deciduous angiosperms, and evergreen angiosperms are reviewed separately. Besides trying to give an overview about the existing newer literature, the review tries to define some repetitively found trends and discusses some possible explanations for these trends. Moreover, open research questions are highlighted and some suggestions for future studies are given. These suggestions encompass both subjects and desirable quality standards with regards to experimental designs. The reviewed publications are mainly focused on leaves, some on fruits, and some on barks and twigs. Phenolics, including phenolic acids and flavonoids of different types as well as tannins, are the most often studied compound class; additionally, some papers assess seasonal variation of alkaloids, diterpenes, essential oils, lignans, simple organic acid, secoiridoids, and stilbenoids.