Medical Sector

Citation:

Farag, M., and L. A. Wessjohann, "Metabolome Classification of Commercial Hypericum perforatum (St", Planta Medica, 2011.

Abstract:

The increasing interest in the efficacy of phytomedicines and herbal supplements but also the increase in legal requirements for safety and reliable contents of active principles drives the development of analytical methods for the quality control of complex, multi-component mixtures as found in plant extracts of value for the pharmaceutical industry. Here, we describe an ultra-performance liquid chromatography method (UPLC) coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (qTOF-MS) measurements for the large scale analysis of H. perforatum plant material and its commercial preparations. Under optimized conditions, we were able to simultaneously quantify and identify 21 metabolites including 4 hyperforins, 3 catechins, 3 naphthodianthrones, 5 flavonoids, 3 fatty acids and a phenolic acid. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to ensure good analytical rigorousness and define both similarities and differences among Hypericum samples. A selection of batches from 9 commercially available H. perforatum products available on the German and Egyptian market showed variable quality, particularly in hyperforins and fatty acids. contents. PCA analysis was able to discriminate between various preparations according to its global composition, including differentiation between various batches from the same supplier. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first approach utilizing UPLC-MS based metabolic fingerprinting to reveal secondary metabolite compositional differences in Hypericum extract.

Notes:

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