Fast detection of apricot product frauds by added pumpkin via planar chromatography and chemometrics: Greenness assessment by analytical eco-scale.

The European Commission requires that fruit products distributed on the market meet standards of high quality and authenticity. For the quality assessment of apricot products susceptible to food fraud, an environmentally friendly, simple and cost-effective analytical profiling was developed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography multi-imaging (HPTLC-FLD/Vis). The new phytochemical profiling was applied for analysis of authentic samples (7 apricot and 5pumpkin samples) and simulated adulterated products (11 mixture samples prepared by addition of 2.5-53% pooled pumpkin to pooled apricot). Based on the analytical eco-scale assessment, the HPTLC-FLD/Vis method was proven as an excellent green analytical method with low energy and solvent consumption. Chemometric data analysis confirmed the difference between apricot and apricot-pumpkin mixtures based on the phytochemical profile. Chemical markers responsible for their differentiation were identified. The results indicated that frauds by adding pumpkin to apricot products can be detected at added contents as low as 2.5%.

Rapid analytical approach for bioprofiling compounds with radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities from seaweeds.

Brown seaweeds are traditionally used as food in Asian countries, and they are a valuable source of bioactive compounds. Herein, a novel high-throughput methodological approach was developed for the tracing of compounds with radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities in Saccharina japonica and Undaria pinnatifida methanol extracts. The seaweed metabolites were separated by a novel high-performance thin-layer chromatography method, the bioactive bands were identified by bioautography assays. The bioactive compounds were characterized with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with linear trap quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry. Stearidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and arachidonic acids were identified as major components having radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities. The suggested method provides a fast identification and quantification of bioactive compounds in multicomponent biological samples.

High-performance thin-layer chromatography/bioautography and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry hyphenated with chemometrics for the quality assessment of Morus alba samples.

Quality control is a crucial step in the production of effective and safe herbal remedies. The aim of this study was to develop a new, simple, and high throughput procedure for the quality assessment of herbal drugs using a high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC)/bioautography and UPLC-MS/MS approach combined with chemometrics. This was exemplarily shown for Morus alba L. root bark (sang bái pí; SBP). Bioautography assays were developed for the identification of constituents with radical scavenging (DPPH assay) and antimicrobial activities (Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli) of 18 different M. alba samples, which was supported by UPLC-MS/MS analysis. Further, the combination of bioautography and chemometrics identified those samples with the most bioactive constituents. Plant materials collected from Serbia (11 samples) showed higher both radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities compared to samples provided from China (7 samples). Principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the discrimination of geographically different samples and recognized their main markers responsible for differences between Serbian and Chinese samples. Most importantly for quality assessment, the combined HPTLC/bioautography and UPLC-MS/MS approach not only allowed for a fast chemical profiling of the investigated samples and their unambiguous identification, but also for the disclosure of major and minor bioactive constituents present in SBP.

Quantitative analysis of arbutin and hydroquinone in strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L., Ericaceae) leaves by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The phenolic glycoside arbutin and its metabolite with uroantiseptic activity hydroquinone occur naturally in the leaves of various medicinal plants and spices. In this study, an extraction procedure coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed to determine arbutin and hydroquinone content in strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L., Ericaceae) leaves. The method showed good linearity (R2>0.9987) in the tested concentration range (0.5-200 µg mL(-1)), as well as good precision (RSD<5%), analytical recovery (96.2-98.0%), and sensitivity (limit of detection=0.009 and 0.004 µg mL(-1) for arbutin and hydroquinone, respectively). The results obtained by the validated GC-MS method corresponded well to those obtained by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The proposed method was then applied for determining arbutin and hydroquinone content in methanolic leaf extracts. The amount of arbutin in the leaves collected on the island of Kolocep (6.82 mg g(-1) dry weight) was found to be higher (tpaired=43.57, tc=2.92) in comparison to the amount of arbutin in the leaves collected on the island of Mali Losinj (2.75 mg g(-1) dry weight). Hydroquinone was not detected in any of the samples. The analytical features of the proposed GC-MS method demonstrated that arbutin and hydroquinone could be determined alternatively by gas chromatography. Due to its wide concentration range, the method could also be suitable for arbutin and hydroquinone analysis in leaves of other plant families (Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, etc.).