## 2 Results and Discussion
### Higher Terpenoids and Sterols
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{3}{*}{**Compound 1**} & \multirow{3}{*}{**LRI Exp 2**} & \multirow{3}{*}{**LRI Lit 14**} & \multirow{3}{*}{**_I. paraguariensis_**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{_I. aquifolium_} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{_I. meserveae_} & \\ \cline{4-9}  & & & & **Aurea** & **Silver** & **Handsworth** & **Blue** & **Blue Girl** & **Blue Princess** \\ \cline{4-9}  & & & & **Marginata** & **Queen** & **New Silver** & **Prince** & **Blue Girl** & **Proincess** \\ \cline{4-9}  & & & & **Concentration (mg g\({}^{-1}\)) 4 d.w.** & & & & & & \\ \hline Stigmasterol & 3280 & 3274 & 0.07 \({}^{5,a}\) & 0.03 \({}^{d}\) & 0.03 \({}^{d}\) & 0.04 \({}^{c}\) & 0.04 \({}^{c}\) & 0.06 \({}^{b}\) & 0.03 \({}^{cd}\) \\ \(\beta\)-Sitosterol & 3325 & 3346 & 0.01 \({}^{a}\) & 0.15 \({}^{c}\) & 0.08 \({}^{b}\) & 0.10 \({}^{b}\) & 0.08 \({}^{b}\) & 0.09 \({}^{b}\) & 0.11 \({}^{b}\) \\ \hline \(\beta\)-Amyrin & 3338 & 3368 & 0.21 \({}^{a}\) & 1.00 \({}^{d}\) & 0.92 \({}^{c}\) & 0.71 \({}^{b}\) & 1.39 \({}^{f}\) & 1.60 \({}^{b}\) & 1.32 \({}^{e}\) \\ \(\alpha\)-Amyrin & 3373 & 3406 & 0.40 \({}^{a}\) & 2.11 \({}^{d}\) & 2.60 \({}^{e}\) & 0.72 \({}^{b}\) & 1.37 \({}^{c}\) & 2.51 \({}^{e}\) & 2.57 \({}^{e}\) \\ Lupeol & 3384 & 3439 & 0.09 \({}^{a}\) & 0.48 \({}^{d}\) & 0.54 \({}^{e}\) & 0.20 \({}^{b}\) & 0.29 \({}^{c}\) & 0.80 \({}^{f}\) & 0.75 \({}^{f}\) \\ Eryththroidol & 3500 & 3501 & 0.11 \({}^{a}\) & 0.18 \({}^{b}\) & 0.16 \({}^{b}\) & 0.13 \({}^{ab}\) & 0.14 \({}^{ab}\) & 0.27 \({}^{d}\) & 0.21 \({}^{c}\) \\ Uvaol & 3535 & 3540 & 0.27 \({}^{a}\) & 0.34 \({}^{d}\) & 0.46 \({}^{c}\) & 0.19 \({}^{f}\) & 0.29 \({}^{f}\) & 0.67 \({}^{e}\) & 0.50 \({}^{b}\) \\ \hline Lup-20(29)-ene & 3554 & 3558 & 0.01 \({}^{a}\) & 0.09 \({}^{bc}\) & 0.07 \({}^{b}\) & 0.07 \({}^{bc}\) & 0.01 \({}^{a}\) & 0.09 \({}^{c}\) & 0.09 \({}^{c}\) \\ \hline Oleanolic acid & 3558 & 3562 & 1.54 \({}^{a}\) & 4.11 \({}^{c}\) & 4.11 \({}^{c}\) & 4.65 \({}^{d}\) & 4.08 \({}^{c}\) & 5.11 \({}^{e}\) & 3.14 \({}^{b}\) \\ Betulinic acid & 3583 & 3583 & 0.02 \({}^{a}\) & 0.28 \({}^{e}\) & 0.07 \({}^{c}\) & 0.26 \({}^{e}\) & 0.05 \({}^{b}\) & 1.80 \({}^{d}\) & 0.06 \({}^{bc}\) \\ Ursolic acid & 3611 & 3649 & 9.26 \({}^{a}\) & 11.27 \({}^{c}\) & 12.93 \({}^{e}\) & 12.06 \({}^{d}\) & 13.29 \({}^{e}\) & 10.70 \({}^{b}\) & 11.74 \({}^{c}\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Expressed as TMS derivatives. \({}^{2}\) Experimentally calculated linear retention index. \({}^{3}\) Literature-derived retention index of TMS derivatives, according to NIST23. \({}^{4}\) Calculated using peak area normalization against internal standard. \({}^{5}\) Values are mean; values followed by the same letter within a row are not significantly different (\(p>0.05\), Tukey’s test).  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Higher terpenoid and sterol contents in the leaves of _I. paraguariensis_ and European cultivars of _I.__aquifolium_ and _I.__meserveae_. Figure 3: Structural formulas of the main higher terpenoids and sterols in the extracts of leaves of _I.__paraguariensis_ and European cultivars of _I.__aquifolium_ and _I.__meserveae_. For _I. paraguariensis_ leaves, [PERSON] et al. used the HPLC-DAD to demonstrate that the contents of unsolic acid and oleanolic acid, as aglycones, are 1.56-1.81 mg g\({}^{-1}\) and 0.23-0.31 mg g\({}^{-1}\), respectively [19]. Reports from other researchers show that higher terpenoids have also been confirmed in other varieties of _Ilex_. [PERSON], in his research on _Ilex chamadrvfolia_, isolated and confirmed the structure of \(\alpha\)-amyrin and unsolic acid, in addition to isolating three saponin compounds whose structures were confirmed spectroscopically as well as using mass spectrometry [20]. Another species, _Ilex spinigera_, which was researched by an Iranian team, yielded \(\beta\)-amyrin, lupeol, lanosterol, taraxasterol, and moretenol [21].