Simultaneous identification and quantification of pentacyclic triterpenoids and phenolic compounds from the leaves of Boswellia serrata using LC–MS/MS tandem mass spectrometry
Abstract
Boswellia serrata (B. serrata) is an important medicinal plant widely used as dietary supplements to provide a support for
osteoarthritic and inflammatory diseases. The occurrence of triterpenes in leaves of B. serrata is very little or none. Therefore,
the qualitative and quantitative determination of phytoconstituents (triterpenes and phenolics) present in the leaves
of B. serrata is very much needed. The aim of this study was to develop an easy, rapid, efficient and simultaneous liquid
chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method for the identification and quantification of the compounds present
in the leaves extract of B. serrata. The purification of ethyl acetate extracts of B. serrata was performed by solid phase
extraction method, followed by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis. Chromatographic parameters of the analytical method included
negative electrospray ionization (
ESI−) with a flow of 0.5 mL/min in gradient mode consisting of acetonitrile (A) and water
(B) containing 0.1% formic acid, at 20 °C. Total 19 compounds (13 triterpenes and 6 phenolic compounds) were separated,
and simultaneously quantified using a validated LC–MS/MS method with high accuracy and sensitivity. Good linearity was
obtained with r2 > 0.973 in the calibration range. The overall recoveries were in a range between 95.78 and 100.2% with relative
standard deviations (RSD) below 5% for the entire procedure of matrix spiking experiments. Overall, there was no ion
suppression from the matrix. The quantification data showed that the total amount of triterpenes and phenolic compounds in
the leaves of B. serrata ethyl acetate extract samples ranged from 14.54 to 102.14 mg/g and 2.14 to 93.12 mg/g of dry extract,
respectively. This work provides, for the first time, a chromatographic fingerprinting analysis on the leaves of B. serrata. A
rapid, efficient, and simultaneous liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) method was developed and used
for the both identification and quantification of triterpenes and phenolic compounds in the leaves extracts of B. serrata. The
method established in this work can be used as quality-control method for other market formulations or dietary supplements
containing leaf extract of B. serrata.
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