Perovskia atriplicifolia Benth (Brazambal Balochil), a source of antioxidant abietane diterpenes

Perovskia atriplicifolia Benth is a perennial and aromatic plant widely distributed in the Sistan and Baluchestan region of Iran. In Persian, P. atriplicifolia is known as “Brazambal balochil”, and is traditionally used as a cooling medicine in the treatment of fevers, leishmaniasis, headache, rheumatic pains, and toothache in Iranian folk medicine [ 1 ]. Previous investigations on P. atriplicifolia were focused on the chemical composition of its essential oil, characterized by GC-MS [ 1 ]. To the best of our knowledge, little is known about the chemical composition of the non-volatile extracts of P. atriplicifolia . Herein, an analytical approach based on LC-ESI-Q-Exactive-MS/MS, in negative ion mode, was carried out to obtain a chemical profile of the EtOH extract of P. atriplicifolia aerial parts. The LC-MS analysis of the EtOH extract showed the presence of 19 compounds, tentatively identified, based on their accurate masses, characteristic fragmentation pattern, and literature data. To unambiguously assign compounds corresponding to these peaks and to discriminate among structural isomers, isolation followed by structure elucidation by 1D and 2D NMR experiments of isolated compounds was carried out. Compounds belonging to the classes of phenolic acid derivatives, diterpenes and triterpenes have been characterized. To our knowledge, this is the first report of caffeic acid ethyl ester, and urs-11-en-28,13β-olide in the genus Perovskia. Furthermore the obtained results highlighted how the EtOH extract of P. atriplicifolia aerial parts represents a good source of the well-known antioxidant abietane diterpenes carnosic acid and carnosol [ 2 ] along with related metabolites namely epirosmanol, epi-isorosmanol, 1α-hydroxydemethylsalvicanol, 7-O-methoxyrosmanol, royleanonic acid and 12-methoxycarnosic acid. Considering the well-known antioxidant properties of carnosol and carnosic acid, the antioxidant activity of the EtOH extract of the aerial parts of P. atriplicifolia and of the main abietane diterpenes were tested in Caco-2 cell line. Cells were treated with the prooxidant agent tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBH) and ROS production was measured through the use of a fluorescent probe. Pretreatment with the EtOH extract, at non toxic concentrations (0.5-25 μg/ml), counteracted TBH-induced alteration of cellular redox status, with a significant and dose-dependent decrease of ROS production. All of the abietane diterpenes tested (0.5-25 μM) showed the ability to prevent ROS formation, being 7- O -methoxyrosmanol the most effective, even more than carnosol and carnosic acid. Publication History Article published online: 05 March 2026 © 2026. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany