Pterodon pubescens oil: characterisation, certification of origin and quality control via mass spectrometry fingerprinting analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The oil obtained from Pterodon pubescens (Leguminosae) seeds are known to display anti-cancer, anti-dermatogenic and anti-nociceptive activitiy. Phytochemical studies have demonstrated that its main constituents are diterpenoids with voucapan skeletons. Considering the potential biological activities of the oil, rapid and efficient methods for assessing its quality would facilitate certification and quality control. OBJECTIVE: To develop a direct mass spectrometric fingerprinting method for the P. pubescens seed oil that would focus on the major diterpenoids constituents, enabling quality control, origin certification and recognition of marker species in commercially available products. METHOD: Two techniques were used: (i) direct infusion electrospray ionisation (ESI) mass spectrometry after solvent extraction and dilution and (ii) ambient desorption/ionisation via easy ambient sonic-spray ionisation, EASI(+)-MS, performed directly on the seed surface or at a paper surface imprinted with the oil. RESULTS: From a combination of ESI-MS, HRESI-MS and ESI-MS/MS data, 12 diterpenes were characterised, and typical profiles were obtained for the oil extract or the crude oil via both ESI-MS and EASI-MS. These techniques require no or very simple sample preparation protocols and the whole analytical processes with spectra acquisition take just a few minutes. CONCLUSION: Both techniques, but particularly EASI-MS, provide simple, fast and efficient MS fingerprinting methodologies to characterise the P. pubescens oil with typical (di)terpene profiles being applicable to quality control and certification of authenticity and origin.

Derivatives of furanditerpenes from Pterodon genus: Pharmacological studies disclose their potential as chronic pain relief in mice.

Pterodon genus fruits are commercially available at the Brazilian medicinal market used in folk medicine due to their anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-rheumatic effects. Previous studies demonstrated that furanditerpenes possessing vouacapan skeleton, isolated from Pterodon genus, possess expressive antinociceptive activities, with promising moiety for the development of new analgesic products. The antinociceptive properties of compounds 6α,7ß-6α-hidroxivouacapan-7ß-17ß-lactone (HVL) and 6α-oxovouacapan-7ß-17ß-lactone (OVL), semi-synthetic analogues of furanditerpenes previously reported as analgesic agents were evaluated on animal experimental models (Spindola et al., 2010, 2011). The chemical-induced pain methods used in the present work, demonstrated for the first time that both compounds HVL and OVL have potential as important templates for the development of chronic pain control drugs. The main findings of this work were that both compounds were: effective in the writhing test; reduced paw edema in the carrageenan test; effective in the inflammatory phase of the formalin test corroborating their activity against inflammatory pain conditions; effective on reducing pain through the stimulation of vanilloid receptors sensible to capsaicin (an important pathway for chronic pain maintenance); reduced the pain stimulus caused by PGE2 injection (a pathway involved in chronic pain hypersensitivity); effective on decreasing mechanical allodynia in the CFA-model, demonstrating their potential use against chronic pain disorders.