engleski

Integrated approach for bioactive quality evaluation of medicinal plant extracts using HPLC-DAD, spectrophotometric, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and chemometric techniques

In order to establish a universal analytical tool that could be used as a bioactive quality determination procedure on medicinal plant extracts, a range of spectrophotometric assays, HPLC, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy and chemometric analysis were employed for determination of the bioactive quality of 16 widely spread medicinal plants. Macro-constituents (total carbohydrates, soluble polysaccharides, proteins, amino acids) and secondary plant metabolites (total phenols, flavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavons and flavonols) were determined and HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of phenolic acids and flavonoids was developed and validated on the basis of its linearity, limits of detection and quantification, precision and accuracy. The evaluated medicinal plant extracts were characterized by a marked protein (marigold- 4.22 g/kg dw), amino acid (marigold- 61.14 g/kg dw) and carbohydrate content (dandelion- 113.5 g/kg dw), while Lamiaceae plants were distinguished as the predominant sources of polyphenolic bioactives (<2.26 g GAE/L). The developed HPLC method enabled separation of 24 polyphenolic compounds within a short analysis time (30 min) and revealed rosmarinic and chicoric acids as the prevalent polyphenolic constituents. NIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometric analysis of all determined analytical parameters indicated the suitability of NIR analysis for amino acids, carbohydrates and polyphenols determination in medicinal plant extracts.

Bioactive quality ; Chemometrics ; HPLC method development ; Medicinal plants ; NIR spectroscopy

Istraživanje je financirano sredstvima projekta ‘Primjena mikroreaktora u praćenju antioksidacijske aktivnosti samoniklog bilja (MICRO-AA)’, projekt broj HR.3.2.01-0069, financiran iz Europskog socijalnog fonda (ESF) putem programa Razvoj ljudskih potencijala.