TY - JOUR

T1 - A new software-assisted analytical workflow based on high-resolution mass spectrometry for the systematic study of phenolic compounds in complex matrices

AU - Cerrato, Andrea

AU - Cannazza, Giuseppe

AU - Capriotti, Anna Laura

AU - Citti, Cinzia

AU - La Barbera, Giorgia

AU - Laganà, Aldo

AU - Montone, Carmela Maria

AU - Piovesana, Susy

AU - Cavaliere, Chiara

N1 - CURIS 2020 NEXS 144

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Polyphenols are a broad class of plant secondary metabolites which carry out several biological functions for plant growth and protection and are of great interest as nutraceuticals for their antioxidant properties. However, due to their structural variability and complexity, the mass-spectrometric analysis of polyphenol content in plant matrices is still an issue. In this work, a novel approach for the identification of several classes of polyphenol derivatives based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry was developed. First, mass-spectrometric parameters were optimized in order to obtain a large set of diagnostic product ions for their high-confidence identification. The software Compound Discoverer 3.0 was then implemented with a comprehensive database of 45,567 polyphenol derivatives and with mass-spectrometric data for their building blocks, resulting in a specific tool for the semi-automatic identification of flavonoids, anthocyanins, ellagitannins, proanthocyanidins and phenolic acids. The method was then applied to the identification of polyphenols in industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa), a matrix whose use is recently spreading for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes, resulting in the identification of 147 compounds belonging to the classes of flavonoids, proanthocyanidins and phenolic acids. The proposed method is applicable to the polyphenol profiling of any plant matrix and it is not dependent on data in the literature for their identification, allowing the discovery of compounds which have been never identified before.

AB - Polyphenols are a broad class of plant secondary metabolites which carry out several biological functions for plant growth and protection and are of great interest as nutraceuticals for their antioxidant properties. However, due to their structural variability and complexity, the mass-spectrometric analysis of polyphenol content in plant matrices is still an issue. In this work, a novel approach for the identification of several classes of polyphenol derivatives based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry was developed. First, mass-spectrometric parameters were optimized in order to obtain a large set of diagnostic product ions for their high-confidence identification. The software Compound Discoverer 3.0 was then implemented with a comprehensive database of 45,567 polyphenol derivatives and with mass-spectrometric data for their building blocks, resulting in a specific tool for the semi-automatic identification of flavonoids, anthocyanins, ellagitannins, proanthocyanidins and phenolic acids. The method was then applied to the identification of polyphenols in industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa), a matrix whose use is recently spreading for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes, resulting in the identification of 147 compounds belonging to the classes of flavonoids, proanthocyanidins and phenolic acids. The proposed method is applicable to the polyphenol profiling of any plant matrix and it is not dependent on data in the literature for their identification, allowing the discovery of compounds which have been never identified before.

KW - Cannabis sativa

KW - Compound Discoverer

KW - High resolution mass spectrometry

KW - Polyphenols

KW - Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075898989&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120573

DO - 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120573

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31892002

AN - SCOPUS:85075898989

VL - 209

JO - Talanta

JF - Talanta

SN - 0039-9140

M1 - 120573

ER -