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Having a very large area globally, the genus Amaranthus has been known since ancient times and used as a medicinal plant used in the treatment of various ailments. For the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, the main constituents considered active are compounds from the polyphenol class. In order to identify and quantify some of these compounds, this paper briefly presents a UHPLC–UV–MS analysis study of polyphenolic compounds from Amaranthus retroflexus. Through our study we identified a high concentration of rutin. Thus, if rutin is intended to be used in medical practice, only the leaves will be used, the rest of the plant would produce an unwanted dilution. In addition, C₁₆H₁₈O₉, C₉H₈O₄, C7H6O4, C9H8O3 and C10H10O4 were identified. It has been observed that the leaves contain flavonoids in a higher amount than other parts of the plant. Through our study, we contributed to establishing the working parameters necessary to perform the analyses. For the first time, we have indicated the organs with the highest content of flavonoids, from the composition of the plants in the Oltenia area, Romania. For medical practice, the results obtained by us can represent important milestones in the production of pharmaceutical preparations.

Having a very large area globally, the genus Amaranthus has been known since ancient times and used as a medicinal plant used in the treatment of various ailments. For the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, the main constituents considered active are compounds from the polyphenol class. In order to identify and quantify some of these compounds, this paper briefly presents a UHPLC-UV-MS analysis study of polyphenolic compounds from Amaranthus retroflexus. Through our study we identified a high concentration of rutin. Thus, if rutin is intended to be used in medical practice, only the leaves will be used, the rest of the plant would produce an unwanted dilution. In addition, C16H18O9, C9H8O9, C7H6O4, C9H8O3 and C10H10O4 were identified. It has been observed that the leaves contain flavonoids in a higher amount than other parts of the plant. Through our study, we contributed to establishing the working parameters necessary to perform the analyses. For the first time, we have indicated the organs with the highest content of flavonoids, from the composition of the plants in the Oltenia area, Romania. For medical practice, the results obtained by us can represent important milestones in the production of pharmaceutical preparations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fern spores were traditionally classified into chlorophyllous (green) and nonchlorophyllous (nongreen) types based on the color visible to the naked eye. Recently, a third type, 'cryptochlorophyllous spores', is recognized, and these spores are nongreen under white light but contain chlorophylls. Epifluorescence microscopy was previously used to detect chlorophylls in cryptochlorophyllous spores. In addition to epifluorescence microscopy, current study performed some other approaches, including spore-squash epifluorescence, absorption spectra, laser-induced fluorescence emission spectra, thin layer chromatography (TLC), and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and mass spectrometric detection (UHPLC-UV-MS) in order to detect chlorophylls of spores of seven ferns ( Sphaeropteris lepifera, Ceratopteris thalictroides, Leptochilus wrightii, Leptochilus pothifolius, Lepidomicrosorum buergerianum, Osmunda banksiifolia, and Platycerium grande). Destructive methods, such as TLC and UHPLC-UV-MS, successfully detected chlorophylls inside the spores when their signals of red fluorescence under epifluorescence microscope were masked by spore wall. Although UHPLC-UV-MS analysis was the most sensitive and reliable for determining the chlorophylls of spores, spore-squash epifluorescence is not only reliable but also cost- and time-effective one among our study methods. In addition, we first confirmed that Lepidomicrosorium buergerianum, Leptochilus pothifolius, Leptochilus wrightii, and Platycerium grande, produce cryptochlorophyllous spores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz (PPY) is used widely as an anthelmintic, antimicrobial, and anti-tumor agent. Multiplicate analytical methods have been employed to discriminate PPY from different regions, as well as to identify regions most beneficial to the growing of this species. In this study, a convenient and accurate method was established using ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) for simultaneous determination of four steroid saponins (Pa, Pb, polyphyllin VI, and chonglou saponin VII). Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) according to UHPLC and UV spectroscopy was applied to analyze 30 samples of PPY from three regions of Yunnan Province in China, and identify significant peaks. The results indicated that the correlation coefficients ( r ) of all calibration curves were above 0.999, and the inter- and intra-day relative standard deviations (RSD) of retention time and peak areas of common peaks were below 1.78 % and 3.40 %, respectively, with recovery rates of 99.6-103.4 % with RSD ≤2 %. Quantitative analysis implied that the average values of total saponins in PPY from south Yunnan Province (19.9 mg/g) were higher than in the central (8.79 mg/g) district. Thus, further investigation could focus on the southern region to seek high quality PPY. The analysis found that PLS-DA for ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, which could separate the samples from three regions, was more appropriate than UHPLC. Retention times during 20-30.75 min of UHPLC, and absorption at 200-300 nm of the UV spectrum were identified as significant peaks for distinguishing PPY from different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hop plant (Humulus lupulus L.) has been exploited for a long time for both its brewing and medicinal uses, due in particular to its specific chemical composition. These last years, hop cultivation that was in decline has been experiencing a renewal for several reasons, such as a craze for strongly hopped aromatic beers. In this context, the present work aims at investigating the genetic and chemical diversity of fifty wild hops collected from different locations in Northern France. These wild hops were compared to ten commercial varieties and three heirloom varieties cultivated in the same sampled geographical area. Genetic analysis relying on genome fingerprinting using 11 microsatellite markers showed a high level of diversity. A total of 56 alleles were determined with an average of 10.9 alleles per locus and assessed a significant population structure (mean pairwise F ST = 0.29). Phytochemical characterization of hops was based on volatile compound analysis by HS-SPME GC-MS, quantification of the main prenylated phenolic compounds by UHPLC-UV as well as untargeted metabolomics by UHPLC-HRMS and revealed a high level of chemical diversity among the assessed wild accessions. In particular, analysis of volatile compounds revealed the presence of some minor but original compounds, such as aromadendrene, allo-aromadendrene, isoledene, β -guaiene, α -ylangene and β -pinene in some wild accessions; while analysis of phenolic compounds showed high content of β -acids in these wild accessions, up to 2.37% of colupulone. Genetic diversity of wild hops previously observed was hence supported by their chemical diversity. Sample soil analysis was also performed to get a pedological classification of these different collection sites. Results of the multivariate statistical analysis suggest that wild hops constitute a huge pool of chemical and genetic diversity of this species. [Display omitted] • 50 wild hops from the North of France were genetically and chemically characterized. • Microsatellite-based study underlined high polymorphism among wild hop accessions. • Volatile compound analysis showed minor but original metabolites in wild hops. • Wild hops differ from commercial varieties in their high β-acid content and metabolomic diversity. • Multifactorial analysis suggested a potential terroir effect to explain this chemodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A validated ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography method using 1.7 μm core-shell particles is presented for the identification and quantification of β-carotene (BC) and related cleavage products (CPs) in primary cell culture media. Besides BC, apo-4′-, apo-8′-, apo-10′-, and apo-12′-carotenals, as well as 5,6-epoxy-β-carotene, were selected as target analytes. Detection was performed via an 80-Hz diode array detector and an electrospray ionization-linear quadrupole ion trap-Orbitrap XL mass spectrometer, both hyphenated in series. Total analysis time was below 6 min with peak widths <12 s. Addition of trifluoroacetic acid and tetrahydrofuran to the mobile phase allowed for the mass spectrometric detection of BC and related CPs and reduced peak tailing due to improved solubility of hydrophobic analytes. Intra-day and inter-day precision for UV and mass spectrometric detection were ≤1.5 % for retention times and ≤5.1 % for peak areas. Instrumental linearity was confirmed by Mandel's fitting test between 0.25 (or 1.00 μg/mL) and 5.00 μg/mL for UV detection. The higher sensitivity of mass spectrometric detection allowed for the coverage of three concentration domains between 0.025 and 5.00 μg/mL in linearity testing. Homoscedasticity was confirmed between 0.10 and 5.00 μg/mL for Orbitrap XL MS. The limits of quantification were between 52.6 and 889.4 ng/mL for UV detection and between 19.3 and 102.4 ng/L for mass spectrometric detection. Offline solid-phase extraction from culture media fortified with BC and CPs provided intra- and inter-day recoveries between 65.8 and 102.4 % with coefficients of variation ≤6.2 %. Primary rat hepatocyte cultures treated with BC and subjected to different oxidative stress conditions contained 5,6-epoxy-BC and apo-4′-carotenal besides residual BC. Apparently, 5,6-epoxy-BC was formed in the medium via autoxidation of BC by ambient oxygen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]