Headspace Volatiles, Macro‐ and Microelements of the Root and Leaf of the <i>Hylotelephium</i> H. Ohba Species, Hybrids, and Cultivars as Variables for Their Differentiation

This study aimed to analyze the chemical profiles of Hylotelephium species, hybrids, and cultivars in terms of headspace (HS) volatiles (by GC-MS/flame ionization detector [FID]) and elemental composition (macro- and microelements) of roots and leaves (by ICP-OES). Contrary to the root HS fraction, the HS fraction of the leaf did not contain any volatiles. Generally, oxygenated monoterpenes are a dominant class of root HS volatiles, with monoterpenic alcohol myrtenol as a major compound followed by aliphatic alcohol 1-octen-3-ol. Regarding the content of macroelements, the analyzed samples mostly contained the highest content of Ca or K and the smallest content of Na. Among microelements, Fe, Mn, and Zn were the most abundant in the root. Interestingly, the highest content of most microelements was detected in the studied species. Regarding the translocation factors (TF) for toxic elements, hybrids, and cultivars proved better for accumulating heavy metals than species. Overall, both chemical profiles were statistically processed using multivariate analysis (agglomerative hierarchical clustering [AHC] and principal component analysis [PCA]) to observe the tendency of grouping based on the chemical composition. According to the HS volatile pattern, a hybrid H. "Matrona" as well as both studied species were most separated from the others. The distribution pattern of macro- and microelements made the species root stand out most, whereas other samples were regularly divided into two groups: root and leaf, regardless of origin. H. "Matrona" showed the greatest potential for the translocation of most elements from the root to the leaf.