Patterns in content of phenolic compounds in leaves of mountain birches along a strong pollution gradient

The contents of individual low-molecular weight phenolic compounds (LMWPs) in mountain birch, Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii, leaves collected during 1996–1998 in six plots 7–65 km south of the nickel–copper smelter at Monchegorsk, Kola Peninsula, NW Russia, were reported. A high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionisation–mass spectrometry (HPLC–ESI–MS) was used for the rapid identification of low-molecular weight phenolics. Quantification was performed by the analytical high-performance liquid chromatography with UV-detection. Contents of (+)-catechin and some gallic acid derivatives decreased significantly, and contents of flavonol glycosides slightly increased with the distance from the smelter. Hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives remained unaffected. These changes in birch leaf phenolics are probably related to the effect of environmental contamination on the biosynthetic reactions both in the shikimate and phenylpropanoid pathways.