Study of the volatile metabolites of three liverworts from Corsica

Despite their chemical diversity and medicinal potential bryophytes are little studied. However their secondary metabolites have been shown to be of interest due to their biological properties such as antibacterial antifungal cytotoxic or insecticidal.In the present work we evaluated the impact of stress factors on the chemical composition of the volatile fractions emitted by three species F. tamarisci S. undulata and C. conicum two leaf liverworts and one thallus liverwort present in Corsica. The first step of the work involved the molecular characterization of the three volatile fractions. For the species S. undulata the identification of the main constituents of the volatile fraction required the development of an analytical sequence integrating liquid chromatography of the essential oil and the use of NMR. Our results suggest that thermal stress is at the origin of a metabolic reorientation of plant species favouring the production of antibacterial and antioxidant compounds in order to fight against bacterial proliferation and plant oxidation.