HPTLC-PCA Complementary to HRMS-PCA in the Case Study of Arbutus unedo Antioxidant Phenolic Profiling

Abstract

A comparison between High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) analysis and Liquid Chromatography High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC–HRMS), coupled with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out by performing a combined metabolomics study to discriminate Arbutus unedo (A. unedo) plants. For a rapid digital record of A. unedo extracts (leaves, yellow fruit, and red fruit collected in La Maddalena and Sassari, Sardinia), HPTLC was used. Data were then analysed by PCA with the results of the ability of this technique to discriminate samples. Similarly, extracts were acquired by non-targeted LC–HRMS followed by unsupervised PCA, and then by LC–HRMS (MS) to identify secondary metabolites involved in the differentiation of the samples. As a result, we demonstrated that HPTLC may be applied as a simple and reliable untargeted approach to rapidly discriminate extracts based on tissues and/or geographical origins, while LC–HRMS could be used to identify which metabolites are able to discriminate samples.

Contribution of Flavonoids and Iridoids to the Hypoglycaemic, Antioxidant, and Nitric Oxide (NO) Inhibitory Activities of Arbutus unedo L.

“…The analysis of phytochemicals profile of fruits and leaves showed the presence of flavonoids, iridoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, terpenoids, and fatty acids as the main classes of constituents [12,13]. The bioactivities of leaves and fruits of A. unedo have been reported in several studies [12,[14][15][16][17]. Fruits have been investigated more than the leaves.…”

Comparative Study on the Phenolic Fingerprint and Antioxidant Activity of Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo L.) Leaves and Fruits

“…Considering all of the above, there is a need to expand the knowledge on the phytochemicals in A. unedo in order to discover new natural antioxidant sources. According to the literature, until now there have been only studies that determined the limited numbers of phenolic compounds in leaves (12–40 phenolics) [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ] and fruits (8–42 phenolics) [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] using different analytical techniques such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [ 14 ]; high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with either mass spectrometry (MS) [ 7 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 15 , 16 , 19 , 21 ], high-resolution MS (HRMS) [ 13 ], or diode array detection (DAD) [ 9 , 16 , 19 , 20 , 22 ]; and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) [ 18 ]. Among all phenolic compounds, flavonoids were the dominant compounds.…”

Phytochemical Profile, Antiradical Capacity and α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Potential of Wild Arbutus unedo L. Fruits from Central Italy: A Chemometric Approach

“…The formulation of phytoextracts rich in bioactive compounds is of fundamental importance to promote the use of these underutilized fruits in various industrial sectors, being a precious resource for the food ingredient market and for nutraceutical and cosmetic sectors. To the best of our knowledge, there is very limited information on the antiradical potential and nutraceutical attributes of wild A. unedo fruits growing in Italy [ 14 ] and on the relationships among these attributes and the biological activity linked to them, whereas the search for new resilient crops able to adapt to the strong climate change is increasingly pressing. In light of these considerations, the present study aimed to evaluate the content of phenols and anthocyanins in fruit extracts from five spontaneous accessions of Arbutus unedo L., growing in Central Italy, through a comparative analysis of their phenolic profile, antiradical potential and hypoglycemic activity.…”