Determination of the Predominant Catechins in Acacia catechu by Liquid Chromatography/Electrospray Ionization−Mass Spectrometry

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 54; no. 9; pp. 3219 - 3224
• Main Authors: Shen, Diandian, Wu, Qingli, Wang, Mingfu, Yang, Yonghong, Lavoie, Edmond J, Simon, James E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 03.05.2006
• Subjects: Acacia - chemistry; Acacia catechu; caffeine; Camellia sinensis - chemistry; catechin; Catechin - analogs & derivatives; Catechin - analysis; catechu resin chunks; Chromatography, Liquid; electrospray ionization; epicatechin; epicatechin-3-O-gallate; epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate; flavanols; heartwood; leaves; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; medicinal plants; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Reproducibility of Results; resins; Sensitivity and Specificity; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf0531499

A high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS) method under selected ion monitoring mode (SIM) was developed to quantitate the predominant catechins, catechin, epicatechin, epicatechin-3-O-gallate, and epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate, in the medicinal plant catechu (Acacia catechu). Other major secondary products including caffeine, flavanol dimers, and flavonol glycosides were also identified by their molecular ion peaks and fragmentation peaks using LC/MS and LC/MS/MS. For the investigated ion concentration ranges of catechin, epicatechin, epicatechin-3-O-gallate, and epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate, good linearities (r 2 > 0.99) were obtained for each calibration curve. Validation for this method showed an accuracy ranging from 1.06 to 11.76%, and the precision (relative standard deviation) varied between 1.60 and 9.36% for these four analytes. This is the first quantitative determination of all predominant catechins in catechu heartwood and leaves. Keywords: Catechu; khail; cutch tree; Acacia catechu; catechins; LC/ESI-MS