Liquid chromatography coupled with time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry for comprehensive phenolic characterization of pomegranate fruit and flower extracts used as ingredients in botanical dietary supplements

Abstract

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit and flower extracts, which are rich sources of bioactive phenolics, are widely utilized as ingredients in botanical dietary supplements. While the phenolic characterization of extracts of pomegranate fruit has been previously studied by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, there is lack of similar data for pomegranate flowers. Herein, liquid chromatography with time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry was utilized to comprehensively characterize the phenolics present in two pomegranate extracts, previously studied for their in vitro and in vivo biological effects, namely, a patented commercial pomegranate fruit extract (Pomella®), and a pomegranate flower extract. Seventy-one phenolics were characterized in the pomegranate fruit extract with the vast majority identified in the flower extract. However, only the pomegranate fruit extract contained tannin-glucuronides and two punicalagin isomers (a characteristic pomegranate phenolic) were identified in this extract while four were identified in the flower extract. The previously reported compounds, pomellatannin and punicatannins A/B, were identified as unique chemical markers in the pomegranate fruit and flower extracts, respectively. This study will aid in the quality control, authentication, and standardization of these botanical ingredients to evaluate their potential health benefits in future planned pre-clinical and clinical studies. Also, this is the first phenolic characterization of a pomegranate flower extract using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

Rapid qualitative profiling and quantitative analysis of phenolics in Ribes meyeri leaves and their antioxidant and antidiabetic activities by HPLC‐QTOF‐MS/MS and UHPLC‐MS/MS

“…The MS/MS spectra showed the typical daughter ion at m/z 125, corresponding to the loss of CO 2 (44 Da). Thus, compound 4 was tentatively identified as gallic acid [31]. It was also identified by comparing the mass spectrum data and retention time with those of an authentic standard.…”

Levodopa-Reduced Mucuna pruriens Seed Extract Shows Neuroprotective Effects against Parkinson’s Disease in Murine Microglia and Human Neuroblastoma Cells, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Drosophila melanogaster

“…L-dopa was quantified by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI–MS/MS) using methods and parameters published by our group and others with some modifications [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. L-dopa quantifications were performed on a prominence ultra-fast liquid chromatography (UFLC) system (Shimadzu, Marlborough, MA, USA) coupled with a QTRAP 4500 system (Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex, Framingham, MA, USA) with data acquired using Analyst 1.6.3 software and processed using MultiQuant 3.0.1 software (Sciex, Framingham, MA, USA).…”

Primary Metabolites, Anthocyanins, and Hydrolyzable Tannins in the Pomegranate Fruit

“…Hydrolyzable tannins are further divided into gallotannins and ellagitannins according to the phenolic groups that are esterified to the hydroxyl groups of glucose: gallic acid in gallotannins and hexahydroxydiphenic acid (HHDP) in ellagitannins. More than 60 hydrolyzable tannins have been (tentatively) identified in pomegranate, of which over 30 are reportedly present in fruit peel, aril juice, and seed (Fischer et al, 2011a; Mena et al, 2012; Ito et al, 2014; Ambigaipalan et al, 2017; Wu and Tian, 2017; Liu and Seeram, 2018) (Table 3).…”