Abstract
Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallroth and Peucedanum ostruthium W.D.J. Koch occur in megaphorb communities in alpine and subalpine areas; both species often share the same habitats. P. ostruthium is used as a spice for spirits, while young shoots of C. alpina are collected in the northeastern regions of Italy as a local delicacy. In the present study, we isolated eleven known coumarins and one chromone from subaerial parts of P. ostruthium; two furanocoumarins were found for the first time in this species. Using UHPLC-HRMS, we analyzed the furanocoumarin content of two P. ostruthium accessions, one commercially purchased and one collected in the wild. These samples were compared to six rootstock samples of Cicerbita alpina collected in the wild. Though the furanocoumarins imperatorin, isoimperatorin, oxypeucedanin, and ostruthol had been reported from C. alpina before, we were not able to detect any of these compounds in our samples of C. alpina. Therefore, and due to the occurrence of both taxa in the same habitat, we assume that the original report of furanocoumarins in C. alpina was based on a mixed collection of C. alpina and P. ostruthium. This hypothesis seems plausible, because furanocoumarins have not been reported from any other taxon of the Cichorieae tribe of the Asteraceae family.