Context: The fruit of Lycium barbarum L. (Solanaceae), known as goji berry, has been exploited for a long time in traditional Chinese medicine. In recent decades, it has received much attention as one of the trendiest functional foods with a wide array of pharmacological activities in Western diets.Objective: In this study the phenolic profile and potential antioxidant capacity of Lycium barbarum cultivated in Crete (Greece) were investigated.Materials and methods: The berries were defatted with hexane and then extracted with dichloromethane and methanol using a Soxhlet apparatus. Furthermore, the methanol extract was fractionated with ethyl acetate and butanol. All fractions/extracts were tested for their antioxidant activity (DPPH, FRAP, chemiluminescence). Folin–Ciocalteu and LC-DAD-MS analyses were utilized for the identification of the phenolic compounds.Results: The total phenolic content ranged from 14.13 ± 0.40 (water fraction) to 109.72 ± 4.09 (ethyl acetate fraction) mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry extract. Ethyl acetate extract exhibited the highest scavenging activities determined as EC50 (4.73 ± 0.20 mg/mL) and IC50 (0.47 ± 0.001 mg/mL) using DPPH and chemiluminescence assays. Seventeen phenolic compounds, including cinnamoylquinic acids and derivatives, hydrocinnamic acids and flavonoid derivatives, were tentatively identified. To the best of our knowledge, quercetin 3-O-hexose coumaric ester and quercetin 3-O-hexose-O-hexose-O-rhamnose are reported for the first time in goji berry fruits.Discussion and conclusion: The results of this study suggest that consumption of goji berry fruits could serve as a potential source of natural antioxidant compounds and that goji berry phenolic extracts could be exploited for nutritional pharmaceutical purposes.

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S. fruticosa, collectively known as Cretan sage, is a medicinal plant to which a number of bioactivities have been attributed. In spite of its importance in nutrition and pharmacy, reports on the extraction of major polyphenols using sustainable processes are particularly limited. In this study, three common cyclodextrins, namely, methyl β-cyclodextrin (m-β-CD), hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), were tested as green boosters of aqueous extraction of polyphenols from aerial parts of S. fruticosa. To examine simultaneously important extraction parameters, including the concentration of cyclodextrins (CCD), pH, and liquid-to-solid ratio (RL/S), a Box–Behnken design was chosen, with three central points. Temperature effects on the extraction yield were also considered, by carrying out kinetics. The results showed that m-β-CD was the most effective extraction booster, providing total polyphenols yields that amounted to 98.39 mg gallic acid equivalents g−1 dry mass. The kinetic assay demonstrated that extraction was highly effective at 80 °C, increasing significantly polyphenol yield, as well as the ferric-reducing power and antiradical activity of the extracts. It was also proven that extraction with m-β-CD was the least energy-demanding process. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry examination revealed that m-β-CD might possess higher affinity for luteolin 7-O-glucuronide extraction, but β-CD for rosmarinic acid extraction.

Selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) is an analytical technique for volatile detection and quantification. SIFT-MS can be applied in a “white box” approach, measuring concentrations of target compounds, or as a “black box” fingerprinting technique, scanning all product ions during a full scan. Combining SIFT-MS full scan data acquired from multibatches or large-scale experiments remains problematic due to signal fluctuation over time. The standard approach of normalizing full scan data to the total signal intensity was insufficient. This study proposes a new approach to correct SIFT-MS fingerprinting data. In this concept, all of the product ions from a full scan are considered individual compounds for which notional concentrations can be calculated. Converting ion count rates into notional analyte concentrations accounts for any changes in the instrument parameters. The benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated on three years of data from both multibatches and long-term experiments showing a significant reduction of system-induced fluctuations providing a better focus on the changes of interest.

Selected-ion-flow-tube-mass-spectrometry (SIFT-MS) is an analytical technique for volatile detection and quantification. SIFT-MS can be applied in a ‘white box’ approach, measuring concentrations of target compounds, or as a ‘black box’ fingerprinting technique, scanning all product ions during a full scan. Combining SIFT-MS full scan data acquired from multi-batches or large-scale experiments remains problematic due to signal fluctuation over time. The standard approach of normalizing full scan data to total signal intensity was insufficient. This study proposes a new approach to correct SIFT-MS fingerprinting data. In this concept, all the product ions from a full scan are considered individual compounds for which notional concentrations can be calculated. Converting ion count rates into notional ion concentrations accounts for any changes in instrument parameters. The benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated on three years of data from both multi-batches and long-term experiments showing a significant reduction of system-induced fluctuations providing a better focus on the changes of interest.