Are Furanocoumarins Present in the Cichorieae Tribe of Asteraceae? A Comparative Study of Cicerbita alpina (Asteraceae) and Peucedanum ostruthium (Apiaceae)

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