Cecropia telenitida Cuatrec. (Urticaceae: Cecropieae): Phytochemical diversity, chemophenetic implications and new records from Central America

The Neotropical genus Cecropia is the largest genus of Cecropieae in the Urticaceae family with 61 described species. For many years, the taxonomic study of Cecropia has been based on morphological and anatomical data. However, recent studies have shown that chemical entities present in Cecropia can be used to establish differences between species providing important additional support on its taxonomic classification. The goal of the present study was to contribute to the phytotaxonomic knowledge of this genus to better inform taxonomic decisions. In addition, this is the first time that chemical constituents have been described in the leaves of Cecropia telenitida Cuatrec., a species that until now had not been reported in Central America. We characterized and quantified the polyphenolic composition of the methanol leaf extract of C. telenitida using UPLC-DAD-MS and HPLC-DAD, respectively. Phytochemical analysis showed that this extract was rich in chlorogenic acid and flavone C-glycosides, with isoorientin and isoorientin 2 ''-O-xyloside as the main compounds. Our data showed a lower chemical diversity and metabolite concentrations than other related species. Morphological, distributional and taxonomic notes, images of the plant and phytochemical comparisons between C. telenitida and selected congeners from Panama are also provided.