Open Access

ARTICLE

Phenolic Profiling and Bioactive Potential of Iris bucharica

Olha Mykhailenko^1,2,3,#,*, Zigmantas Gudžinskas⁴, Liudas Ivanauskas⁵, Victoriya Georgiyants¹, Chia-Hung Yen^6,7,8, Chung-Fan Hsieh⁹, Riong Seulina Panjaitan⁶, Tsong-Long Hwang^10,11,12,13, Bing-Hung Chen^14,15, Michal Korinek^6,7,8,#,*

1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, National University of Pharmacy, Valentynivska Str. 4, Kharkiv, 61168, Ukraine
2 Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry, Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy Group, UCL School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AX, UK
3 Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Kiel University, Kiel, 24118, Germany
4 State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Centre, Akademijos Str. 2, Vilnius, 08412, Lithuania
5 Department of Analytical and Toxicological Chemistry, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, A. Mickevičiaus Str. 9, Kaunas, 44307, Lithuania
6 Graduate Institute of Natural Products, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan
7 Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan
8 Drug Development and Value Creation Research Center, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan
9 Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, 33302, Taiwan
10 Graduate Institute of Natural Products, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, 33302, Taiwan
11 Center for Drug Research and Development, College of Human Ecology, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, 33303, Taiwan
12 Graduate Institute of Health Industry Technology, College of Human Ecology, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, 33303, Taiwan
13 Department of Anaesthesiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, 33305, Taiwan
14 Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan
15 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Sun Yat‑sen University, Kaohsiung, 804201, Taiwan

* Corresponding Authors: Olha Mykhailenko. Email: ; Michal Korinek. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Secondary Metabolites in Plants and Their Interaction With Ecological Factors)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2026, 95(1), 4 https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2026.074209

Received 05 October 2025; Accepted 31 December 2025; Issue published 30 January 2026

Abstract

The sustainable sourcing of novel bioactive compounds from natural sources is crucial to the success of the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries. Iris bucharica Foster (syn. Juno bucharica (Foster) Vved.) is a promising source of novel bioactive molecules, particularly phenolic compounds, which are renowned for their antioxidant properties. In this study, we developed a reliable HPLC-UV-DAD method to identify and quantify phenolic compounds in the leaves and bulbs of I. bucharica, establishing the first set of quality control markers for this species. A total of 21 phenolic compounds were identified in the leaves, with flavonoids isoorientin, guaijaverin, hyperoside, and cosmosiin, the isoflavonoid biochanin A, and the simple phenolic ferulic acid being the most prominent. In comparison, 14 compounds were identified in the bulbs, primarily isoflavonoids, including tectoridin and germanaism B, and flavonoid apigenin. The leaves extracts exhibited significant antioxidant activity, whereas the anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects were mild. These findings highlight I. bucharica as a sustainable source of bioactive compounds with potential industrial applications. However, further studies are needed to evaluate bioavailability and in vivo efficacy, as well as to optimise extraction methods to realize its industrial potential fully.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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