Exploring the Chemical Fingerprint and In Vitro Biocompatibility of Wild-Growing and Ex Situ Cultivated Stachys cretica subsp. cretica in the Same Region (Crete, Greece).

The genus Stachys (Lamiaceae) comprises numerous species recognized for their ethnopharmacological importance and rich chemical profiles. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition and biocompatibility of both wild-growing Cretan samples and asexually propagated samples of Stachys cretica L. subsp. cretica that were ex situ cultivated in the same region (Crete). The methanol (MeOH) extracts and infusions were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-PDA-MS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy. A total of 23 compounds were identified in the analyzed samples by HPLC-PDA-MS, classified as flavonoids, phenylethanoid glycosides, and phenolic acids. The NMR screening confirmed the presence of chlorogenic acid, acteoside, lavandulifolioside, and leucosceptoside A in the MeOH extract of wild-growing S. cretica subsp. cretica. Methanol extracts exhibited higher chemical diversity compared to infusions, particularly in flavonoids. Moreover, biocompatibility is crucial for most biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, ensuring that drugs, drug delivery systems, and cosmetics avoid possible side effects or cytotoxicity. Thus, normal human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293) were cultivated and cell viability (%) was estimated. This confirmed that S. cretica subsp. cretica extracts are biocompatible. The limited phytochemical variation observed between wild-growing and cultivated samples suggests that cultivation within the species' native range may preserve its chemical composition.