Phenolic and Volatile Composition of a Dry Spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) Extract

Abstract

Abstract:The present paper reports a complete mass spectrometric characterization of both the phenolic and volatile fractions of a dried spearmint extract. Phenolic compounds were analysed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS n ) and a total of 66 compounds were tentatively identified, being the widest phenolic characterisation of spearmint to date. The analysis suggests that the extract is composed of rosmarinic acid and its derivatives (230.5˘13.5 mg/g) with smaller amounts of salvianolic acids, caffeoylquinic acids, hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavones, and flavanones. Head space solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique, that was applied to characterize the volatile fraction of spearmint, identified molecules belonging to different chemical classes, such as p-cymene, isopiperitone, and piperitone, dihydroedulan II, menthone, p-cymen-8-ol, and β-linalool. This comprehensive phytochemical analysis can be useful to test the authenticity of this product rich in rosmarinic acid and other phenolics, and when assessing its biological properties. It may also be applied to other plant-derived food extracts and beverages containing a broad range of phytochemical compounds.

Effect of phosphorus application rate on Mentha spicata L. grown in deep flow technique (DFT)

“…In any case, the detected ratios were significantly lower than 2.5, which is the suggested threshold for food products to be considered as decalcifiers and poor sources of Ca (Guil, Torija, Giménez, Rodríguez-García, & Himénez, 1996). According to Cirlini et al (2016), organic acids such as citric and malic acid were detected in dried spearmint extracts, without however carrying out quantification of the detected compounds. Considering the role of organic acids as antioxidants (Pereira, Barros, Carvalho, & Ferreira, 2013), this difference could be due to different growing conditions and post-harvest processing.…”

Effect of cytokinins on shoots proliferation and rosmarinic and salvianolic acid B production in shoot culture of Dracocephalum forrestii W. W. Smith

“…Our previous studies have reported significant amounts of salvianolic acid B in transformed root cultures and the roots of a 1-year-old intact plant of D. forrestii (Weremczuk-Jeżyna et al 2016). In contrast to caffeic and rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acids are not common and have been found in only a few species (Ożarowski et al 2016;Ribeiro et al 2016;Cirlini et al 2016). They are mainly obtained from members of the Salvia genus, especially Salvia milthiorrhiza (Li et al 2009a).…”

Production of the Sicilian distillate “ Spiritu re fascitrari ” from honey by-products: An interesting source of yeast diversity

“…However, a significant number of VOCs attributable to the metabolism of yeast strains increased in concentration during the AF. Specifically, aldehydes and alcohols have very pleasant aromas, the first of fat, citrus, green, almond, burnt, sugar and sweet aromas, whereas the second one of alcoholic, flower, nut, hyacinth aromas (Bianchi et al, 2007;Cirlini et al, 2016;Dall'Asta et al, 2011;Fariña et al, 2015).…”

“…Short chain acids such as acetic acid, have spicy and sour flavors and aromas, while butanoic acid and hexanoic acids are linked to a rancid and sweat aroma (Barra et al, 2010;Kaack et al, 2005). In final products, the furfuraldehyde and benzaldehyde were also detected at high levels, they are usually associated with sweet, pungent aromas and almond aromas (Kaack et al, 2005;Cirlini et al, 2016).…”