| Abstract: | The genus Mikania (Compositae, tribe Eupatorieae) encompasses about 430 species mainly distributed in Neotropical region. More than 200 species of this genus occur in Brazil, highlighting the species widely used in folk medicine M. glomerata and M. laevigata. Nevertheless, the chemical composition of several Mikania species found in Brazil has not been studied yet. Thus, we performed the HPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of 19 Mikania species with voluble and erect habits and which were obtained from natural habitats in different regions of Brazilian biodiversity. Furthermore, this is the first chemical investigation of 12 Mikania species and the first description of flavonoids and other phenolics in 16 species. Quercetin O-heterosides, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid and dicaffeoylquinic acids were the most distributed compounds in the analyzed species. The occurrence of octulopyranosonic acid derivatives was observed for the first time in Mikania. Unsupervised statistical analysis (PCA) suggested the tendency of metabolite speciation in some plants of the group, but it did not show clustering patterns related to habits and vegetations from the habitats of species. Some flavonoids and dicaffeaoylquinic acids annotated in many species may be associated to anti-inflammatory effects of Mikania extracts. Therefore, the present study provides novelties regarding the polar compounds in Mikania and reinforces the pharmacological potential of unevaluated species of this genus. |
