Abstract

Thirteen flavonoids were isolated from leaves of three Chilean species of Drimys (Winteraceae), one endemic to the Juan Fernandez Islands (D. confertifolia) and two native from continental Chile (D. winteri and D. andina). Flavonoids were characterized by a combination of ultraviolet spectroscopy, colors reactions when fumed with NH4 and Rf values on paper chromatography. Comparisons of flavonoid were done by thin layer chromatography on polyamide, high performance liquid chromatography and descendent paper chromatography on Whatman No3 paper. With flavonoid patterns, a phenetic analyses using Baroni-Urbani and Buser index was done to evaluate chemical similarities among these species. The results suggest that the endemic species, D. confertifolia is closely related to D. winteri. The three species are very different in flavonoid contents as showed by the low similarity values. Chemical results are congruent with separation of this taxa at specific level.