PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

The present study demonstrates the feasibility of information theory for analysis of hydrogen bonds energy alterations in aqueous extracts of some selected plants with medicinal properties due to differences in their chemical composition. A selection of the following 11 commonly used plants was made on the basis of previous studies verifying their health effects: M. longifolia L., T. vulgaris L., S. rosmarinus Spenn, A. millefolium L., Tilia cordata Mill, Salvia divinorum Epling, H. perforatum L., V. myrtillus L, S. nigra L., Sideritisscardica Griseb. and Pelargonium sidoides. Their normalized distributions of hydrogen bond energies were measured with the method of Non-equilibrium energy spectrum (NES). They were analyzed with the information theoretical measures of Shannon entropy and variation of information, as well as with the proposed novel metric of transformational information. Distinct clusters with respect to these three coordinates were observed corresponding to the common features of anti-inflammatory (Pelargonium sidoides, Hypericum perforatum L., Tilia cordata, S. Rosmarinus Spenn., M. longifolia L.), immunostimulatory (V. myrtillus L. and Salvia divinorum Epling) effects and fluoride content (Hypericum perforatum L., Tilia cordata). S. nigra L, as the only plant in this selection used in anti-tumor therapy, with markedly lowest value of Shannon entropy and remote positioning compared to the other clustered samples. Clustering according to variation of information, within this group of selected plants, did not lead to any similarities in terms of known health effects and chemical composition. Consequently, the pair of Shannon entropy and transformational information coordinates can possibly be more feasible for information theoretical analysis of NES spectra.