Chromatography Conditions Development by Design of Experiments for the Chemotype Differentiation of Four Bauhinia Species

Abstract

The extensive use of medicinal herbs to traditionally treat disease persists for generations, and scientific evidence on plant-derived extracts has indicated their numerous biological activities. The Bauhinia, popular known as cow’s paw (“pata de vaca”), with more than 60 native species, are extensively used in Brazilian popular medicine for the control of diabetes. Therefore, in 2009, B. forficata, B. variegata and/or B. affinis were included in the Brazilian National List of Medicinal Plants of Interest to SUS (RENISUS - Brazil). In this context, this work reports the results of the chemical differentiation of B. forficata, B. variegata, B. longifolia, and B. affinis using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry and unsupervised chemometric tools. Chromatographic conditions were optimized by using the design of experiments (DoE) and chromatographic knowledge. Furthermore, the chemical profile of the studied species was analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis that differentiated the four species of Bauhinia, and 55 compounds were also inferred by MS2 experiments, some of them for the first time in B. affinis. In this manner, this work provides important information that could be used in quality control, development of new pharmaceuticals, and food products based on Bauhinia leaves, as well as to explain ethnomedicinal properties, pharmacological and toxicological actions.

Antiviral Activity of Flavonoids from Bauhinia holophylla Leaves against Zika virus

“…Flavonoids correspond to an essential and diversified group of plant secondary metabolites, widely distributed in the plant kingdom, often in a glycoside form, and associated with various physiological roles, such as antioxidants, protection against UV radiation, and chemical defense of plants [52][53][54][55]. In addition to this ecological role, several flavonoids stand out as potent plant bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, and antitumoral effects [16,38,[55][56][57].…”

Chemical profile of the volatile fraction of Bauhinia forficata leaves: an evaluation of commercial and in natura samples

“…Volatile compounds also play a significant role in plant essential oil and infusion aroma, and they are influential in consumer choice (Arsenijević et al, 2016). Furthermore, a detailed knowledge of a representative number of samples can contribute to the determination of a chemical marker of the species, not yet established, helping to standardize these oils, as a way of monitoring fraud (Aquino et al, 2022).…”