Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton: honeybee forage and preliminary results on the metabolic profiling by NMR spectroscopy.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has emerged as a technology for metabolite characterisation of both foods and plants. NMR technique allows to analyse metabolite content in a single experiment, in a non-destructive way and with a very simple sample preparation. This study characterises the metabolites of Perilla frutescens var. crispa leaf and flower for the first time by NMR. Our results showed higher metabolite content in leaves compared to flowers, highlighting the presence of amino acids, organic acids, saccharides and large amounts of aromatic compounds, mainly in the form of rosmarinic acid. Moreover, we cultivated Perilla, an important medicinal plant native to Asia, in a low mountain environment in Italy, to continue its evaluation as a honeybee attractive species. Interestingly, even in this type of environment, Perilla has been confirmed to be a good bee plant for both nectar and pollen.