TLC fingerprint of flavonoids and saponins from Passiflora species

Several Passiflora species, known in Brazil as maracujds, are used as flavour and as juice in food industries, whereas passionflower extract has an ancient tradition in folk medicine as a sedative. Due to few phytochemical and pharmacological studies, there are no quality criteria for these Passiflora species as raw material. In this work, we present unique fingerprints of fourteen samples of Passiflora species relating to the presence of flavonoids and saponins. These chemical characterisations can provide, for example, authentication of samples, detection of adulterations, and differentiation between closely related species.