Rapid profiling and structural characterization of bioactive compounds and their distribution in different parts of Berberis petiolaris Wall. ex G. Don applying hyphenated mass spectrometric techniques

Abstract

RATIONALE: Berberis petiolaris Wall., is a lesser known medicinal plant, belonging to family Berberidaceae. Genus berberis is known for many biological activities such as anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and anti-diarrheal etc. There are not many reports of isolation of components from Berberis petiolaris. This study aims to seek identification, characterization and quantification of components. METHODS: A method was developed for rapid screening of phytochemicals using high-pressure liquid chromatography hyphenated with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS). Suitable collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry (CID-MS/MS) method was developed for structural investigation of different class of alkaloids, flavanoids and other class of compounds in which nine standard compounds were used for authentication. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) method was developed for quantitative study of five constituents using triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometer (UPLC-QTRAP-MS). RESULTS: On the basis of HPLC retention behaviour and fragmentation pathways obtained by high-resolution MS and MS/MS spectra, 32 compounds were identified and characterized in different parts of Berberis petiolaris. Quantitative study of chlorogenic acid, magnoflorine, jatrorrhizine, palmatine and berberine were also completed successfully. CONCLUSIONS: Rapid and accurate HPLC-DAD/ESI-QTOF-MS/MS and UPLC-QTRAP-MS methods were established for identification, characterization and quantification of phytochemicals in the ethanolic extract of Berberis petiolaris. These methods therefore can be used for studies on phytochemical variation in different parts of the plant. PCA analysis may be used for plant part discrimination.