Potential of extracts from Saponaria officinalis and Calendula officinalis to modulate in vitro rumen fermentation with respect to their content in saponins

Saponins have the potential to favorably modulate rumen fermentation, but there is generally a lack of the chemical structures associated with the described effects. The activity of extracts from Calendula officinalisand Saponaria officinalis in the rumen was evaluated in vitro. The S. officinalis root extract, reduced CH4production by 8.5% and increased total VFA concentration by 25.2%. C. officinalis and S. officinalis root extracts and the S. officinalis aerial part extract decreased the acetate to propionate ratio from 8.6 to 17.4%, according to the extract. An HPLC-ELSD analysis indicated that the saponin content ranged from 43.6 to 57.6 mg/g of dry matter (DM) in the C. officinalis extracts and from 224.0 to 693.8 mg/g of DM in the S. officinalis extracts, expressed as the hederacoside C equivalent. Identification of the saponin compounds present in the extracts by HPLC–MSn suggested that the saponin profile modulated the biological activities, showing the importance of determining the structure of saponins when evaluating extracts

Identification of coumarins in DCM bark, leaf and fruit extracts from Mammea neurophylla (Calophyllaceae) by LC-PDA-MSn

4-phenyl and 4-propylcoumarins display a wide variety of biological activities including anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, antiparasitical activities against Leishmania or Plasmodium as well as antibacterial, antiviral (HIV) and cytotoxic activities. Using LC-PDA-MSn we have developed a specific protocol allowing the simultaneous and qualitative detection of 4-phenyl and 4-propylcoumarins in DCM bark, fruit and leaf extracts obtained from Mammea neurophylla. By comparison of their retention times, MS and UV data with that of authentic samples, nine, seven and five 4-phenylcoumarins could be directly identified in bark, leaf and fruit extracts respectively. On the other hand, interlocking UV spectra and ESI-MSn data analysis allowed us to deduce plausible structures of five, eight and four other coumarins in bark, leaf and fruit respectively by comparison with their reported spectral data. During this study new Mammea A/AA 9-hydroxy-cyclo F and Mammea A/AB 9-hydroxy-cyclo F were identified. We believe that this protocol will be useful in case of dereplicative studies of Mammea and related species

Matrix-free laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry as a functional tool for the analysis and differentiation of complex phenolic mixtures in propolis: a new approach to quality control

Matrix-free laser desorption ionization (LDI) is a rapid and versatile technique for the ionization of small, UV-light-absorbing molecules. Indeed, many natural products such as polyphenols exhibit inherent LDI properties, potentially facilitating their detection from highly complex samples such as crude extracts. With this in mind, the present work thoroughly evaluated the potential of LDI as an analytical tool for the chemical profiling and differentiation of propolis samples obtained from different global regions. Propolis is a complex bee product containing, among others, significant amounts of phenolic constituents that may show LDI effects. The present work will demonstrate that LDI not only provides reproducible and highly specific fingerprint spectra for each of the tested samples, it further allows their clear differentiation by principal compound analysis (PCA). Contrary to classical analytical approaches such as LC- or GC-MS, LDI does not require time-consuming sample preparation and method optimization procedures. Thus, the technique represents a most interesting analytical tool and potent supplement to classic LC-MS for quality control of herbal pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements. Present results clearly support this approach and further suggest the use of LDI as a versatile tool for the automated analysis of large sample batches on an industrial scale