Biochemical Fingerprint of Greek Sideritis spp.: Implications for Potential Drug Discovery and Advanced Breeding Strategies

Plant species of the Sideritis genus are native to the Mediterranean region and widely used through millennia for their medicinal and culinary properties. They are mostly known as mountain tea or Shepard tea and in the last few years, they are on the spotlight due to the production of an enormous variety of bioactive secondary metabolites exerting a wide range of pharmaceutical applications. In the present study the biochemical value and the health promoting components of various indigenous Sideritis species was assessed: S. perforiata subsp. perfoliata, S. perfoliata subsp. athoa, S. syriaca, S. raeseri, S. scardica. A thorough biochemical analysis was conducted, including total phenols and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, amino acids, elemental and polar/non polar metabolite profiling. S. perfoliata subsp. perfoliata had the most diverse and rich terpene profile among the studied species, while its infusion had the highest phenol and flavonoid content thus, showed the highest antioxidant activity. The diverse chemotype of Sideritis species can be used as a guide on the preparation of tea mixes with the desired metabolite content targeting specialized medical applications or may assist on the design of breeding strategies.