A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Characterization of bioactive plant ellagitannins by chromatographic, spectroscopic and mass spectrometric methods
Authors: Moilanen J, Sinkkonen J, Salminen JP
Publisher: SPRINGER BASEL AG
Publication year: 2013
Journal: Chemoecology
Journal name in source: CHEMOECOLOGY
Journal acronym: CHEMOECOLOGY
Number in series: 3
Volume: 23
Issue: 3
First page : 165
Last page: 179
Number of pages: 15
ISSN: 0937-7409
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-013-0132-3
Web address : http://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id:84881610486
Abstract
Ellagitannins are widely distributed plant polyphenols showing potent anti-herbivore activities, but rather complex chemical structures. Here we show how ellagitannins with different structures can be efficiently characterized from plant extracts by utilizing the information obtained from four universal methods used for ellagitannin analysis: Sephadex LH-20 gel chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. We show that by combining the information obtained from the ellagitannins' chromatographic elution order, specific shapes of the ultraviolet spectra, molecular masses and characteristic mass spectral fragmentations, it is possible to classify these polyphenols into different ellagitannin sub-groups, and even characterize the structures within the sub-groups. These findings aid in the fast screening of complex plant samples for their ellagitannin composition without having to isolate compounds for individual characterization.
Ellagitannins are widely distributed plant polyphenols showing potent anti-herbivore activities, but rather complex chemical structures. Here we show how ellagitannins with different structures can be efficiently characterized from plant extracts by utilizing the information obtained from four universal methods used for ellagitannin analysis: Sephadex LH-20 gel chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. We show that by combining the information obtained from the ellagitannins' chromatographic elution order, specific shapes of the ultraviolet spectra, molecular masses and characteristic mass spectral fragmentations, it is possible to classify these polyphenols into different ellagitannin sub-groups, and even characterize the structures within the sub-groups. These findings aid in the fast screening of complex plant samples for their ellagitannin composition without having to isolate compounds for individual characterization.