Glucosinolates in Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop. : Comparative Analysis in Cultivated and Wild Plants and in Vitro Assays with T2Rs Bitter Taste Receptors

Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop., commonly known as “hedge mustard” or “the singer’s plant” is a wild plant common in Eurasian regions. Its cultivation is mainly dedicated to herboristic applications and it has been only recently introduced into Italy. The active botanicals in S. officinale are glucosinolates, generally estimated by UV or HPLC. Using both techniques we measured the total glucosinolates from S. officinale in different parts of the plant as roots, leaves, seeds and flowers. A comparison was made for cultivated and wild samples, and for samples obtained with different pre-treatment and storage conditions as fresh, frozen and dried. Cultivated and wild plants have a comparable amount of total glucosinolates; drying procedures can reduce the final glucosinolates content. The content in glucoputranjivin, which is the chemical marker for glucosinolates in S. officinale, has been determined by HPLC using a pure reference standard. Glucoputranjivin and two isothiocyanates from S. officinale have been submitted to in vitro assays with the platform of bitter taste receptors of the T2Rs family; the results show that glucoputranjivin is a selective agonist of receptor T2R16.