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DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1298170
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York
Metabolome Classification of Commercial Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) Preparations via UPLC-qTOF-MS and Chemometrics
Publication History
received October 8, 2011
revised Nov. 20, 2011
accepted Dec. 18, 2011
Publication Date:
23 January 2012 (online)

Abstract
The growing interest in the efficacy of phytomedicines and herbal supplements but also the increase in legal requirements for safety and reliable contents of active principles drive the development of analytical methods for the quality control of complex, multicomponent mixtures as found in plant extracts of value for the pharmaceutical industry. Here, we describe an ultra-performance liquid chromatography method (UPLC) coupled with quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (qTOF-MS) measurements for the large scale analysis of H. perforatum plant material and its commercial preparations. Under optimized conditions, we were able to simultaneously quantify and identify 21 metabolites including 4 hyperforins, 3 catechins, 3 naphthodianthrones, 5 flavonoids, 3 fatty acids, and a phenolic acid. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to ensure good analytical rigorousness and define both similarities and differences among Hypericum samples. A selection of batches from 9 commercially available H. perforatum products available on the German and Egyptian markets showed variable quality, particularly in hyperforins and fatty acid content. PCA analysis was able to discriminate between various preparations according to their global composition, including differentiation between various batches from the same supplier. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first approach utilizing UPLC-MS-based metabolic fingerprinting to reveal secondary metabolite compositional differences in Hypericum extract.
Key words
Hypericum perforatum L. - Hypericaceae - UPLC-MS - hyperforin - principal component analysis - quality control - St. John's wort
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Prof. Dr. Mohamed A. Farag
Pharmacognosy Department
College of Pharmacy
Cairo University
Kasr el Aini st.
Cairo 11562
Egypt
Phone: +011 20 22 36 22 45
Fax: +011 2 02 25 32 00 05
Email: mfarag73@yahoo.com