Luteolin is a flavone, a type of flavonoid, with a yellow crystalline appearance.
Luteolin is the principal yellow dye compound that is obtained from the plant '' Reseda luteola'', which has been used as a source of the dye since at least the first millennium B.C. Luteolin was first isolated in pure form, and named, in 1829 by the French chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul. The luteolin
empirical formula
In chemistry, the empirical formula of a chemical compound is the simplest whole number ratio of atoms present in a compound. A simple example of this concept is that the empirical formula of sulfur monoxide, or SO, would simply be SO, as is the ...
was determined by the Austrian chemists
Heinrich Hlasiwetz
Heinrich Hlasiwetz (7 April 1825 – 7 October 1875) was an Austrian chemist born in Reichenberg, Bohemia.
Son of a pharmacist, he studied at the University of Jena, where his instructors included Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner (1780-1849), H ...
Arthur George Perkin
Arthur George Perkin DSc FRS FRSE (1861–1937) was an English chemist and Professor of Colour Chemistry and Dyeing at the University of Leeds.
Life
Perkin was the second son of Sir William Henry Perkin FRS, who founded the aniline dye indu ...
proposed the correct structure for luteolin. Perkin's proposed structure for luteolin was confirmed in 1900 when the Polish-Swiss chemist Stanislaw Kostanecki (1860–1910) and his students A. Różycki and J. Tambor synthesized luteolin.
Natural occurrences
Luteolin is most often found in leaves, but it is also seen in rinds, barks, clover blossom, and
ragweed
Ragweeds are flowering plants in the genus ''Ambrosia'' in the aster family, Asteraceae. They are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, especially North America, It has also been isolated from the
aromatic
In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...
flowering plant, ''Salvia tomentosa'' in the mint family, '' Lamiaceae''.
Dietary sources include
celery
Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...
,
broccoli
Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cla ...
thyme
Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus '' Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigen ...
, dandelion,
perilla
''Perilla'' is a genus consisting of one major Asiatic crop species ''Perilla frutescens'' and a few wild species in nature belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus encompasses several distinct varieties of Asian herb, seed, and veget ...
,
chamomile
Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) ( or ) is the common name for several plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species, ''Matricaria recutita'' and ''Anthemis nobilis'', are commonly us ...
tea, carrots, olive oil, peppermint, rosemary, navel oranges, and oregano. It can also be found in the seeds of the palm ''
Aiphanes aculeata
''Aiphanes horrida'' is a palm native to northern South America and Trinidad and Tobago. ''Aiphanes horrida'' is a solitary, spiny tree. In the wild it grows 3–10 metres tall (9–30 feet) tall with a stem diameter of 6–10 centimetres (2� ...