Pancratistatin - Occurrence

Occurrence

Pancratistatin occurs naturally in Hawaiian Spider Lily, a flowering plant within the Amaryllidaceae family. Pancratistatin is mostly found in the bulb tissues of Spider Lilies. It has been shown that the enrichment of atmospheric CO2 can enhance the production of antiviral secondary metabolites, including Pancratistatin, in these plants. Pancratistatin can be isolated from the tropical bulbs of Hymenocallis littoralis in the order of 100 to 150 mg/kg when bulbs are obtained from the wild type in Hawaii. However, the compound has to be commercially extracted from field- and greenhouse-grown bulbs or from tissue cultures cultivated, for example, in Arizona, which generate lower levels of Pancratistatin (a maximum of 22 mg/kg) even in the peak month of October. After October, when the bulb becomes dormant, levels of Pancratistatin drop, down to only 4 mg/kg by May. Field-grown bulbs, which show monthly changes in Pancratistatin content, generate somewhat smaller amounts (2–5 mg/kg) compared to those grown in greenhouses cultivated over the same period. There are about 40 different Spider Lily species worldwide and they are mainly native to the Andes of South America.