Planta Med 2014; 80 - PD110
DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1382531

Structural characterization of dendrobine-type sesquiterpene alkaloids from the stems of Dendrobium nobile using LC-MS/MS

YH Wang 1, B Avula 1, N Abe 1, F Wei 2, M Wang 1, SC Ma 2, Z Ali 1, MA Elsohly 1, 3, IA Khan 1, 4, 5
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Institute for Control of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ethnic Medicine, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, Beijing, China
  • 3ElSohly Laboratories, Incorporated, 5 Industrial Park Drive, Oxford, MS 38655, USA
  • 4Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 5Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Dendrobium nobile has gained attention in pre-workout products since alkaloids from this plant were claimed to enhance physical or athletic performance. Dendrobine-type sesquiterpene alkaloids were identified via diagnostic fragments using UHPLC/ESI-QTOFMS. Structures of alkaloids were characterized on the basis of accurate mass spectra from QTOF mass analyzer in MS and MS-MS tandem modes. Nine alkaloids were separated within 12 minutes using a C18 column. The fragmentation pathways of two sub-group compounds (dendrobine and nobilonine) were illustrated. This developed method can identify the alkaloid markers lacking of ultraviolet absorption, and is suitable as a quality control method for various Dendrobium samples and commercial products. Alkaloids were identified from D. nobile, but not detected from 12 other Dendrobium species and the 13 dietary supplements.