This paper describes the correlation between the phenolic composition and the molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of five Spondias species (Anacardiaceae). Two of these species (S. venulosa and Spondias sp.) occur in rainforest areas and the other three are widely distributed in Brazil (S. dulcis, S.mombin, and S. purpurea). The flavonoid enriched fraction of the S. venulosa leaf extract also underwent a chemical study. The results indicate that the presence of flavonol 3-O-glycosides are a synapomorphic character of the studied American Spondias and the production of rhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside is a synapomorphy of the Atlantic forest species. This is the first report of flavonoids in S. venulosa, an endemic species from the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest.
Keywords
Spondias
; flavonol 3-O-glycosides; molecular phylogeny
