No abstract

This work presented a new analytical methodology based on hydrophilic interaction ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry in multiple-reaction monitoring mode for analysis of 24 underivatized free amino acids (FAAs) in functional foods. The proposed method was first reported and validated by assessing the matrix effects, linearity, limit of detections and limit of quantifications, precision, repeatability, stability and recovery of all target compounds, and it was used to determine the nutritional substances of FAAs in ginkgo seeds and further elucidate the nutritional value of this functional food. The result showed that ginkgo seed turned out to be a good source of FAAs with high levels of several essential FAAs and to have a good nutritional value. Furthermore, the principal component analysis was performed to classify the ginkgo seed samples on the basis of 24 FAAs. As a result, the samples could be mainly clustered into three groups, which were similar to areas classification. Overall, the presented method would be useful for the investigation of amino acids in edible plants and agricultural products.

The hepatotoxic effects of 1-bromopropane (1-BP) and its conjugation with glutathione were investigated in male ICR mice. A single dose (1000 mg/kg, po) of 1-BP in corn oil to mice significantly increased serum activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Glutathione (GSH) content was dose-dependently reduced in liver homogenates 12 h after 1-BP treatment. In addition, 1-BP treatment dose-dependently increased levels of S-propyl GSH conjugate at 12 h after treatment, as measured by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The GSH conjugate was maximally increased in liver at 6 h after 1-BP treatment (1000 mg/kg), with a parallel depletion of hepatic GSH content. Finally, 1-BP induced the production of malondialdehyde in liver. The present results suggest that 1-BP might cause hepatotoxicity, including lipid peroxidation via the depletion of GSH, due to the formation of GSH conjugates in male ICR mice.

Catechin compounds from Korean and Chinese green tea, and pu-erh, Indian black, Longjing, Tieguanyin, Bamboo, Jasmine, Oolong, Flower, Red teas, as potential anticancer and antioxidant components, were target material in this work. After extracting the green tea with water at 50 degrees C for 4 h, the extract was partitioned with water/chloroform, which was best suited to remove caffeine impurity from the extract. Further, the resulting extract was partitioned with water/ethyl acetate to deeply purify the five catechin compounds epigallocatechin, (+) catechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate. The extracted samples were analyzed by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. The mobile phase applied was the binary system of A (water/acetic acid, 100/0.1 vol%) and B (acetonitrile/acetic acid 100/0.1 vol%) from 90:10 to 70:30 (A:B vol%) in a linear gradient over 30 min time. The amount of catechin compounds extracted from Chinese green tea was 114.65% higher than from the Korean green tea. Comparing various tea sorts, the green teas contained more than 1.7 times of the five catechin compounds contained in other teas.

The extract from Ginkgo biloba leaves has become a very popular plant medicine and herbal supplement for its potential benefit in alleviating symptoms associated with peripheral vascular disease, dementia, asthma and tinnitus. Most research on G. biloba leaves focus on the leaves collected in July and August from four to seven year-old trees, however a large number of leaves from fruit cultivars (trees older than 10 years) are ignored and become obsolete after fruit harvest season (November). In this paper, we expand the tree age range (from one to 300 years) and first comparatively analyze the total flavonol glycosides and terpene lactones at different ages, from different cultivation sources and genders of G. biloba leaves collected in November by using the validated HPLC-ELSD and HPLC-PDA methods. The results show that the contents of total terpene lactones and flavonol glycosides in the leaves of young ginkgo trees are higher than those in old trees, and they are higher in male trees than in female trees. Geographical factors appear to have a significant influence on the contents as well. These results will provide a good basis for the comprehensive utilization of G. biloba leaves, especially the leaves from fruit cultivars.