A comprehensive LCMS/MS characterization for the green extracted cucurbitane-triterpenoid glycosides from bitter melon (Momordica charantia) fruit.

A first-time green extraction and LCMSMS analysis for karavilosides (KVs) VIII, X, and XI in different parts (skin, pith, and seed) of the fresh and dried fruit of bitter melon (BM) is reported herein. Ultrasonication for green extraction whereas, LCMS/MS for KVs quantification were used. More extract yield (675.80 ± 163.57 mg/g) was observed for the dried fruit parts compared to the fresh BM-fruit parts (513.20 ± 75.42 mg/g). The fresh skin (343.40 ± 54.07 mg/4g) and dried seeds (311.80 and 77.95 ± 38.98) exhibited more yield whereas, the solvent yield (mg/4mg) observed was; H2O (651.70) > EtOH (227.20) > EtAC (163.30) > ACT (146.80). The LCMS/MS yield for the KVs revealed a descending order; KVXI (2376.44 ppb) > KVX (639.17 ppb) > KVVIII (599.83 ppb). More correlation was seen for the solvent Vs extract yield whereas, the KVs revealed more correlation for the BM-fruit part (P = 0.05). The study comprehensively characterized the parts of fresh and dried BM-fruits in terms of extract yield and KVs amount.

Solanum pseudocapsicum vs Capsicum annum; comparative phenolics profiling using green ultrasonic extraction and UHPLC analysis.

BACKGROUND: Solanum pseudocapsicum (PC) and Capsicum annum (CA) belongs to the family of Solanaceae. CA have been reported a rich source of phenolics whereas, the phenolics content of GA (gallic acid), SC (scopoletin), RA (rosmarinic acid), and RV (resveratrol) are yet to be reported for the PC-fruit. This study comparatively evaluates the phenolics profile for different parts (seeds and skin) and colors (green and red) of the PC- and CA-fruits using the green solvents of ethanol (ET), acetone (AC), water (H2O), and different combinations of these solvents. METHODOLOGY: Ultrasonics extraction (US) and UHPLC analysis were employed for phenolics evaluation. RESULTS: The USMD (method development) revealed the highest extract yield of 62 mg/100 mg for the PC-skin in ET:AC (70:30) solvent whereas, more phenolics (ppm) were observed for PC-seeds in ET:AC (50:50) solvent, particularly the SC (29.46) and GA (16.92). The UHPLCMDMV exhibited significant accuracies (100.70-114.14 %) with r2-values (0.9993-0.9997) in the linearity range of 1-200 ppm. The USMV (method validation) in PC- and CA-fruit parts and colors revealed more extract yields for the red skin part of the PC- (180.5 mg) and CA-fruit (126.2 mg). The phenolics were seen more in the green seeds of the PC-fruit (ppm); SC (276), GA (147.36), RV (28.54), and RA (23.87) followed by the green PC-skin, and red/green CA-seeds. The statistical models of mean differences, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation showed significant differences for the PC-fruit parts (seeds and skin) and colors (red and green) vs extract yield and phenolics content (P = 0.05). CONCLUSION: PC-and CA-fruits were successfully evaluated where the seeds for the green fruits exhibited more phenolics amount.

Ultrasonic-assisted extraction of fenugreek flavonoids and its geographical-based comparative evaluation using green UHPLC-DAD analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study, for the first time, reports a simultaneous determination of flavonoids; rutin (RT), quercetin (QT), luteolin (LT), and kaempferol (KF) in different origins of fenugreek seeds samples (N = 45) using a green UHPLC-DAD analysis METHODOLOGY: Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was employed to extract fenugreek flavonoids using different polarity solvents of n-hexane (n-hex), dichloromethane (DCM), and methanol (MeOH) RESULTS: The extract yield on an individual basis was observed in the range of 1.03-17.29 mg, with the highest yield (mg/sample) for the Egyptian sample (17.29 mg). The highest total extract yield (mg/origin) was observed for the Iranian sample (82.28 ±â€¯5.38). The solvent with the highest extract yield (mg) was n-hex 169.35 ±â€¯13.47, followed by MeOH 114.39 ±â€¯12.27. The validated green UHPLC-DAD method resulted in a short runtime (9 min) with an accuracy of 97.86(±12.32)-101.37(±5.91), r2-values = 0.993-0.999, LOD = 2.09-4.48 ppm, and LOQ = 6.33-13.57 ppm for flavonoids analysis within the linearity range of 1-500 ppm. The general yield for flavonoids exhibited a descending order (ppm): RT (2924.55 ±â€¯143.84) > QT (457.05 ±â€¯34.07) > LT (82.37 ±â€¯3.27) > KF (4.54 ±â€¯0.00). The yield (ppm) for the flavonoids was more in MeOH solvent (3424.81 ±â€¯235.44) constructing a descending order of MeOH > n-hex > DCM. For an individual flavonoid yield; MeOH was seen with an order of RT > QT > LT, n-hex (LT > QT), and DCM (RT > LT > QT). The statistical analysis of PCA (principle component analysis) revealed a widespread distribution of flavonoids in fenugreek seeds with a variance of 35.93% (PC1). Moreover, flavonoids extraction was prone to the nature and specificity of the solvent used (PC2: 33.34%) rather than the amount of the extract yield (P = 0.00). The K-mean cluster analysis showed the origins with higher flavonoids yield in appropriate solvent as I3M (Indian accession # 3 MeOH extract) with more QT amount, IR2M (Iranian accession # 2 MeOH extract) with more LT amount along with I2M (Indian accession # 2 MeOH extract) and Q2M (Qassim Saudi Arabia accession # 2 MeOH extract) containing high amount of RT. The outcomes are supported by KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) and Bartlett's test value of 0.56 with X2-value of 191.87 (P = 0.00) CONCLUSION: The samples were effectively evaluated and standardized in terms of flavonoid amount suggesting a significant variation in fenugreek quality.

The effect of natural antioxidants, pH, and green solvents upon catechins stability during ultrasonic extraction from green tea leaves (Camellia sinensis).

BACKGROUND: This is a first-time report to evaluate the effect of natural antioxidants, pH, and green solvents upon catechins yield and stability during the active process of extraction from green tea leaves. METHODOLOGY: Green solvents (model-A) augmented with piperine (PPN) and quercetin (QT) as natural antioxidants (model-B) at different pH 2-6 (model-C) were used to extract catechins from green tea leaves using an ultrasonic extraction process (USE). For quantification of catechins (EC; epicatechins, ECG; epicatechin gallate, and EGCG; epigallocatechin gallate), a green and sensitive UHPLC-MS/MS method was developed and validated. RESULTS: The UHPLC-MS/MS method showed an accuracy of 98.3-102.6 % within the linearity range of 1-500 ppb for EC (m/z) 289 â†’ 245 â†’ 109, ECG (m/z) 441.2 â†’ 169 â†’ 289, and EGCG (m/z) 457.1 â†’ 169 â†’ 125.1. The general yield (ppb) for EC, ECG, and EGCG was observed with the ranges and sum of (N = 180) 0.06-157.80 and 6696.83, 0.04-316.93 and 12632.60 and, 0.12-584.11 and 26144.83, respectively. Model-C revealed the highest yield for catechins at the lowest pH-2 with an individual catechin yield of EGCG (584.11) > ECG (316.93) > EC (157.80) in CW2. In terms of stability, EGCG was the most unstable catechin whereas, catechins extracted in model-B exhibited more stability (%recovery of 14.70 for EC, 10.55 for ECG, and 5.36 for EGCG in BEP). Moreover, model-B showed the minimal degradation for catechins within the range of 11.81-94.64 (BEP); even the most degradable EGCG was seen with the smallest %loss of 11.81-94.64 at time 24-70 h, as compared to the loss of > 95 % in model-A and C. The ANOVA score for catechins yield was; F11,168 = 61.06 (EC), F11,168 = 66.53 (ECG), and F11,168 = 48.92 (EGCG) (P = 0.00) with mean scores of (M = 94.63, SD = 25.46) for EC, (M = 194.87, SD = 51.41) ECG, and (M = 357.57, SD = 96.80) EGCG in CE2. CONCLUSION: A significant effect on catechins yield and stability was observed with the use of natural antioxidants and lowest pH-2.

ICP-MS determination of elemental abundance in traditional medicinal plants commonly used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Medicinal plants are widely used in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to treat various ailments in the form of folk medicine. Forty four such medicinal plant samples were collected from local markets and evaluated for the presence of 14 elements (Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Al, Pb, Ba, Zn, Ag, Hg, Bi, Cd). Microwave-assisted digestion with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was applied to determine the elemental composition in these medicinal plants. Widespread occurrence of these elements was observed in all plant samples, except for Bi and Co where the lowest mean values of 0.03 ± 0.04 and 0.03 ± 0.15 were observed, respectively. The descending order for mean (µg/g) elemental occurrence observed was as follows: Ba > Al > Zn > Ni > Mn > Ba > Hg > Mo > Cu > Cr > Ag > Cd > Co > Bi, whereas the range for these elements in the 44-medicinal plants was as follows: Pb > Al > Zn > Ni > Mn > Cu > Mo > Ag > Ba > Hg > Co > Cd > Cr > Bi. Pb, Hg and Cd were found beyond the maximum limits in these medicinal plants, while the remaining elements were found well within the range of maximum limits. A number of medicinal plants showed high amounts of these elements. Some plants contained more than one element, such as Foeniculum vulgare Mill (Pb, Hg, Cd), Ricinus communis (Pb, Cd), Vigna radiata (Pb, Cd) and Sesamum indicum (Pb, Hg). The data matrix was validated through the statistical tools of principal component analysis (X2 = 160.44, P = .00), Pearson's correlation (P = .01 and 0.05), and K-mean cluster analysis (F = 104.55, P = .00). The findings of the study provide baseline data for the comparative analysis of these medicinal plants, which may help select safe medicinal plants in terms of consumer-based use and its utilisation for the treatment of various ailments.

Development of a Critical Appraisal Tool (AIMRDA) for the Peer-Review of Studies Assessing the Anticancer Activity of Natural Products: A Step towards Reproducibility.

The journal of APJCP (Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention) focuses to gather relevant and up-to-date novel information's related to cancer sciences. The research methodologies and approaches adopted by the researcher are prone to variation which may be desirable in the context of novel scientific findings however, the reproducibility for these studies needs to be unified and assured. The reproducibility issues are highly concerned when preclinical studies are reported in cancer, for natural products in particular. The natural products and medicinal plants are prone to a wide variation in terms of phytochemistry and phyto-pharmacology, ultimately affecting the end results for cancer studies. Hence the need for specific guidelines to adopt a best-practice in cancer research are utmost essential. The current AIMRDA guidelines aims to develop a consensus-based tool in order to enhance the quality and assure the reproducibility of studies reporting natural products in cancer prevention. A core working committee of the experts developed an initial draft for the guidelines where more focus was kept for the inclusion of specific items not covered in previous published tools. The initial draft was peer-reviewed, experts-views provided, and improved by a scientific committee comprising of field research experts, editorial experts of different journals, and academics working in different organization worldwide. The feedback from continuous online meetings, mail communications, and webinars resulted a final draft in the shape of a checklist tool, covering the best practices related to the field of natural products research in cancer prevention and treatment. It is mandatory for the authors to read and follow the AIMRDA tool, and be aware of the good-practices to be followed in cancer research prior to any submission to APJCP. Though the tool is developed based on experts in the field, it needs to be further updated and validated in practice via implementation in the field.