Planta Med 2013; 79 - P140
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1336582

Comprehensive Chemical Fingerprinting of Chamomile Extracts using UPC2/MS

M Jones 1, 2, B Avula 3, YH Wang 3, K Yu 1, TJ Smillie 3, W Potts 1, N Smith 2, C Legido-Quigley 2, IA Khan 3, 4
  • 1Waters Corporation, 34 Maple Street, Milford, MA, 01757 USA
  • 2King's College London, Pharmaceutical Science Division, School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK
  • 3National Center for Natural Products Research
  • 4Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

Chamomile is widely used throughout the world and is extensively consumed as a tea. The two most popular species of chamomile are Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) and German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla, Chamomilla recutita) belonging to the Compositae family. In this presentation, various extraction techniques were performed on the two species of Chamomile. An UltraPerformance Convergence Chromatography (UPC2) coupled to MS method was developed to analyze and compare the Chamomile extracts for similarities and distinct differences. The UPC2/MS methodology was then applied to profile SFE extracts of commercial chamomile tea products. Troubleshooting experiences when using UPC2 coupled to MS will be discussed.

The two chamomile species were extracted using the following techniques: (a) liquid-solid extraction with methanol, hexane, isopropanol:hexane (1:1) (b) microwave extraction with isopropanol (IPA), Hexane, and IPA:Hexane (1:1), and (c) SFE with percentages of 2%, 5%, and 10% modifier. The commercial products were extracted by SFE with 5% modifier. Distinct differences are observed between the two chamomile liquid-solid extracts which is consistent with the LC/MS conclusions of previous studies. However, orthogonality and new entity identifications were observed when comparing the chromatographic techniques. The microwave extraction analysis indicated optimal peak shapes with the hexane media versus the IPA media, yet differences in peak detection was observed at the higher elution composition of the UPC2 method. Based on these preliminary results, the commercial chamomile tea products should be extracted using the optimal SFE method and analyzed using the UPC2/MS method. Accurate mass for multivariate analysis of the commercial products will be performed.