Predictive Multi Experiment Approach for the Determination of Conjugated Phenolic Compounds in Vegetal Matrices by Means of LC-MS/MS

Polyphenols (PCs) are a numerous class of bioactive molecules and are known for their antioxidant activity. In this work, the potential of the quadrupole/linear ion trap hybrid mass spectrometer (LIT-QqQ) was exploited to develop a semi-untargeted method for the identification of polyphenols in different food matrices: green coffee, Crocus sativus L. (saffron) and Humulus lupulus L. (hop). Several conjugate forms of flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic acid were detected using neutral loss (NL) as a survey scan coupled with dependent scans with enhanced product ion (EPI) based on information-dependent acquisition (IDA) criteria. The presented approach is focused on a specific class of molecules and provides comprehensive information on the different conjugation models that are related to specific base molecules, thus allowing a quick and effective identification of all possible combinations, such as mono-, di-, or tri-glycosylation or another type of conjugation such as quinic acid esters

Chemical characterization and evaluation of antioxidant activity from different cultivars of Cannabis sativa L. of Abruzzo's region

In this work, the chemical composition and the antioxidant evaluation of the inflorescences from 12 Cannabis sativa L. monoecious cultivars (Carmagnola Lemon CL, Ferimon F, Gran Sasso Kush GSK, Antal A, Carmagnola C, Kompolti K, Futura 75 F75, Villanova V, Tiborzallasi T, Finola FL, Kc Virtus KV and Pineapple P) cultivated at the same condition, were investigated. GC-MS analysis was carried out to evaluate the volatile fraction, while HPLC-MS/MS was used for cannabinoids and polyphenolic compounds. The evaluation of antioxidant activity was carried out using ABTS*+, Trolox equivalence antioxidant capacity (TEAC), ferric reducing antioxidant property (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH*) assays in vitro. The obtained data, demonstrated that each cultivar has a characteristic chemical profile, with highest antioxidant capacity for CL, F75, GSK and F. Based on the in vitro antioxidant activity the plant extracts can be considered as promising candidates for different applications in food field

Effectiveness of CAP on Mycotoxins in Naturally Contaminated Cocoa Beans

Cocoa is the world’s third most popular raw resource, behind sugar and coffee. Mycotoxins in cocoa beans and chocolate products are a significant public health problem, as well as the adoption of non-thermal treatments to reduce their presence. This study investigated the occurrence of mycotoxins in cocoa beans and the efficacy of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment in degrading mycotoxins in cocoa beans naturally contaminated. Two different CAP conditions were compared: ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) regimes. HPLC-MS/MS analyses revealed that out of twenty cocoa samples from Colombia, 40% were contaminated by beauvericin (BEA) and 25% by ochratoxin A (OTA). Only one sample was contaminated with more than two mycotoxins: BEA, OTA, ochratoxin B (OTB), aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), and aflatoxin B2 (AFB2); instead, aflatoxins G1 and G2 (AFG1 and AFG2) in none of the samples were detected. Our results suggested that the efficacy of CAP on mycotoxin degradation was regime, time exposure, distance from the source and molecule structure dependent. The reduction of the mycotoxins was OTB>AFB2>AFB1>OTA>BEA. For the first time we reported the efficacy of CAP-O3 in reduce mycotoxins in cocoa beans