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Planta Med 2021; 87(04): 305-313
DOI: 10.1055/a-1345-9377
Natural Product Chemistry and Analytical Studies
Original Papers

Simultaneous Quantification of Ursolic and Oleanolic Acids in Glechoma hederacea and Glechoma hirsuta by UPLC/MS/MS

Karolina Grabowska 
1   Jagiellonian University Medical College, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, Kraków, Poland
,
Paweł Żmudzki
2   Jagiellonian University Medical College, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Kraków, Poland
,
Dagmara Wróbel-Biedrawa
1   Jagiellonian University Medical College, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, Kraków, Poland
,
Irma Podolak
1   Jagiellonian University Medical College, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, Kraków, Poland
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Abstract

The content of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid was determined in different plant parts of two Glechoma species, G. hederacea and G. hirsuta. To achieve optimal extraction conditions of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid from plant material, several methods including maceration, heat reflux, Soxhlet, and ultrasonic extraction, as well as various solvents (methanol, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate), were investigated and compared.

For the simultaneous quantification of pentacyclic triterpenes in extracts from Glechoma sp., an UPLC-MS/MS was developed and validated. The method exhibited good linearity, precision, and recovery, and it also was simple, specific, and fast. We developed the method for future application in the quality control of plant materials and botanical extracts containing ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. With regard to the triterpene constituents, both G. hederacea and G. hirsuta can be used equally, and the aboveground parts of both species, but the leaves especially, are abundant sources of ursolic acid (7.1 – 7.5 mg/g dry weight [DW]). Dichloromethane as an extractant provided the best extraction efficiency as well as selectivity to obtain Glechoma extracts rich in triterpenes as compared to methanol and ethyl acetate, regardless of the particular extraction technique. Dry dichloromethane extracts from aerial parts of Glechoma sp. obtained by the heat reflux method resulted in products with a high content of UA (17 – 25% w/w) are considered to be convenient and rich sources of this compound.

Key words

Glechoma hederacea - Glechoma hirsuta - Lamiaceae - ursolic acid - oleanolic acid - quantification - UPLC-MS/MS - optimization

Supporting Information

    Representative examples of the UPLC chromatograms for the analyzed samples (Fig. 1S) and the efficiency of various extraction methods, expressed as extraction yield [%] (Table 1S) are available as Supporting Information.

  • Supporting Information


Publication History

Received: 20 August 2020

Accepted after revision: 19 December 2020

Article published online:
15 January 2021

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