Exploring Brazilian biodiversity: a study of phytochemical diversity in the genus Cololobus

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, playing a pivotal role in the conservation of plant species [ 1 ]. The genus Cololobus is native to the Southeastern region of Brazil, presenting species endemic to the Atlantic Forest. Currently, the genus is composed by five described species, namely: Cololobus argenteus , Cololobus hatschbachii , Cololobus longiangustatus , Cololobus rupestris and Cololobus ruschianus [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]. Herein, we employed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach to evaluate the chemical diversity, measured as metabolite richness and evenness, of five Cololobus species, including three known species ( C. argenteus , C. longiangustatus and C. ruschianus ) and two potentially novel species. By investigating these species, our goal was to assess whether novel species share chemical similarities with previously described ones, broadening the knowledge of Brazilian biodiversity. Regarding the known species, we observed the highest metabolite richness in C. longiangustatus (126 metabolites), followed by C. ruschianus (71 metabolites) and C. argenteus (34 metabolites). A similar profile was observed for metabolite evenness, measured as Simpson’s index, where C. longiangustatus exhibited greater metabolite diversity (0.9625) than C. ruschianus (0.9318) or C. argenteus (0.9195). Interestingly, novel species exhibited metabolite richness and evenness comparable to the measurements obtained for C. longiangustatus and C. ruschianus . Additionally, principal component analysis corroborated the results observed for phytochemical diversity, where the two novel species were chemically similar to C. longiangustatus and C. ruschianus . Our results shed light on the phytochemical diversity of endemic plant species in the Atlantic Forest, enriching the understanding of Brazilian biodiversity. Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany