Previously, different Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata cultivars were investigated by untargeted LC-MS analysis. From this, a list of tentatively identified and unknown compounds that differ significantly between these cultivars was obtained. Due to the lack of reference compounds, especially for dihydro-isocoumarins, we aimed to isolate and structurally characterise these compounds from the cultivar ‘Yae-no-amacha’ using NMR and LC-MS methods. For purification and isolation, counter-current chromatography was used in combination with reversed-phase preparative HPLC as an orthogonal and enhanced purification workflow. Thirteen dihydro-isocoumarins in combination with other metabolites could be isolated and structurally identified. Particularly interesting was the clarification of dihydrostilbenoid glycosides, which were described for the first time in H. macrophylla ssp. serrata. These results will help us in further studies on the biological interpretation of our data.

A wide range of secondary metabolites has been described for various Hydrangea species, including the sweet-tasting phenyldihydroisocoumarin phyllodulcin, which is found in the leaves of Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata. This work aims at the development and validation of an analytical workflow for comprehensive semi-polar metabolite profiling using liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization ion mobility quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-IMS-QToF-MS) to complement existing analytical studies. The unsupervised analysis of this data set demonstrates the capability of this analytical workflow to distinguish different H. macrophylla ssp. serrata cultivars. In combination with supervised analysis, a list of metabolites responsible for the differentiation of the cultivars studied has been obtained. Suspect screening of phenyldihydroisocoumarins provides comprehensive information, which could help in the search for key enzymes related to the biosynthesis of phyllodulcin.

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