Comprehensive feature‐based molecular networking and metabolomics approaches to reveal the differences components in Cinnamomum cassia and Cinnamomum verum

Abstract

Cinnamon was been a widely used plant in medicinal and spices for a long time and has spread all over the world. However, the differences in the components of the bark from Cinnamomum cassia and Cinnamomum verum, the two most common types of cinnamon, have not been thoroughly investigated. In the present experiment, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography LTQ-Orbitrap Velos Pro hybrid mass spectrometer-based metabolomics coupled with chemometrics and feature-based molecular networking were employed to dramatically distinguish and annotate Cinnamomum cassia Bark and Cinnamomum verum bark. As a consequence, principal component analysis, orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminates analysis, and heat map analysis demonstrated clear discrimination between the profiles of metabolites in cinnamon. Besides, as the known compounds, proanthocyanidins (cinnamtannin B1 and procyanidin B2) and alkaloids (norboldine, norisoboldine) with variable importance in the projection scores >6, and an unknown alkaloid (formula C 24 H 33 NO 6 ) were selected as the best markers to discriminate cinnamon. Furthermore, large numbers of proanthocyanidins and alkaloids components were identified through featurebased molecular networking for the first time. Our investigation provides new ideas for the discovery of quality markers and identification of unknown components in natural products.

Study of the Chemical Profile and Anti-Fungal Activity against Candida auris of Cinnamomum cassia Essential Oil and of Its Nano-Formulations Based on Polycaprolactone

“…EOs extracted from these two species have very similar chemical profiles and, for this reason, the CC-EO is frequently used to sophisticate the EO extracted from C. zeylanicum EO. In 2021, Xingdong Wu et al identified some secondary metabolites (proanthocyanidins and alkaloids) as the best markers to discriminate between the two cinnamon spices, which are otherwise difficult to distinguish even for most experts [ 40 ]. Both EOs have a strong antimicrobial activity and are characterized by cinnamaldehyde as the major component with the difference that in CC-EO it is present in a higher percentage than in the other-one.…”

Cinnamon, a promising herbal plant for combatting diabetes and Its anti-diabetes mechanisms

“…In addition, ergosterol, cadinene, alphaamorphene, alpha-cubebene, hydrocinnamaldehyde, and (E)-cinnamaldehyde were also identified as the major compounds of the C. verum bark essential oil (Ahmed et al, 2020). Wu et al have successfully identified 20 chemical markers for discriminating C. cassia and C. verum (Wu et al, 2021). According to their study, six procyanidin components (cinnamtannin B1, isocinnamtannin B1, procyanidin B2, Cinnamtannin B1+2H, etc.)…”

An improved strategy for identification and annotation of easily in‐sourced dissociation diterpene lactones from plant natural products: Taking Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) as an example

“…High‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) has advantages such as high sensitivity, high resolution, and easy coupling with various analytical instruments 14,15 . For example, by coupling HRMS with ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), it is possible to obtain the molecular weight of and structure information on natural products with high throughput 12,16 . Among ion sources, electrospray ionization (ESI) source is currently considered to be the least likely to produce in‐source fragmentation, but the fragmentation within the ESI source is still common due to the molecular properties of certain compounds 17 .…”

“…14,15 For example, by coupling HRMS with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), it is possible to obtain the molecular weight of and structure information on natural products with high throughput. 12,16 Among ion sources, electrospray ionization (ESI) source is currently considered to be the least likely to produce in-source fragmentation, but the fragmentation within the ESI source is still common due to the molecular properties of certain compounds. 17 The ion fragments produced by in-source fragmentation lead to false positives or even a complete inability to obtain the pseudo-molecular ion peaks of the identified components, which seriously hinder the characterization of compounds prone to in-source fragmentation.…”