Chlorogenic acid biosynthesis in Cestrum poeppigii

The chlorogenic acid content of Cestrum poeppigii, and its ability to form the acid from labelled t-cinnamic acid, was determined at different stages of growth. In contrast to mature plants, young plants showed great seasonal variation in their chlorogenic acid content. The incorporation of radioactivity from t-cinnamic into chlorogenic acid also differed greatly during the growth period. Trapping experiments with caffeic and p-coumaric acids were performed to study the effect of large pools of these acids on the incorporation of t-cinnamic acid-3-¹⁴C] into chlorogenic acid. The kinetics of incorporation exclude a major role for caffeic acid in the biosynthesis of chlorogenic acid.