Phytochemical Characterization of Rhus coriaria L. Extracts by Headspace Solid-Phase Micro Extraction Gas Chromatography, Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Liquid Chromatography, and Antioxidant Activity Evaluation.

Katia Arena,Francesco Cacciola,Luca Santi,Paolo Guarnaccia,Ludovica Spagnuolo,Luigi Mondello,Elisa Pannucci,Emanuela Trovato,Laura Dugo,Paola Dugo

doi:10.3390/molecules27051727

Abstract

Rhus coriaria L. (Anacardiaceae), commonly known as sumac, has been used since ancient times for many different applications, and nowadays is used mostly as a spice obtained from its in the Mediterranean and the Middle ground fruits and employed for flavoring and garnishing food, predominantly Eastern regions. Traditionally, sumac has been also used in popular medicine for the treatment of many ailments including hemorrhoids, wound healing, diarrhea, ulcers, and eye inflammation. Sumac drupes are indeed rich in various classes of phytochemicals including organic acids, flavonoids, tannins, and others, which are responsible of their powerful antioxidant capacity, from which treatment of many common diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer could benefit. In this work we evaluated the influence of fruit ripeness, conservation, and processing. To this aim, a phytochemical characterization of six different samples of Rhus coriaria L. was carried out. Specifically, headspace solid-phase micro extraction gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry and comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array and mass spectrometry detection, were employed. A total of 263 volatile compounds, including terpene hydrocarbons, acids, and aldehydes, as well as 83 polyphenolic compounds, mainly gallic acid derivatives, were positively identified. All samples showed a significant antioxidant activity by means of oxygen radical absorbance capacity, in line with their polyphenolic content and composition. Such findings set a solid ground to support the utilization of this plant as an attractive target for novel nutraceutical approaches and for drug discovery.

Highlights

Rhus coriaria L. (R. coriaria), commonly known as sumac, belongs to the Anacardiaceae family
The investigations of Giovannelli et al on the aroma profile and essential oil composition of R. coriaria fruits from four Sicilian sites of collection allowed the identification of 106 compounds by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) analysis and 169 in the essential oils by gas chromatography (GC)/mass spectrometry (MS), and the main constituents were revealed as being p-anisaldehyde, (Z)-2-heptenal, (E)-2-decenal, β-caryophllene, and cembrene [3]
In terms of chemical classes, Sample 1 was the richest one in terpenes hydrocarbons, whereas it turned out to be the poorest in furans (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Rhus coriaria L. (R. coriaria), commonly known as sumac, belongs to the Anacardiaceae family. (R. coriaria), commonly known as sumac, belongs to the Anacardiaceae family. According to “The Plant List” it is one of the 131 currently accepted species names of the very large and still under evaluation Rhus genus (The Plant List (2013). Distinct parts of the plant have found several applications with significant technological value; tannins extracted from young stems, as well as from leaves, were utilized for tanning hides during leather preparation and in the past centuries the most extensive plantations have been established for this purpose. Sumac has counted as a source of natural dyes for the textile industry, yellow dye coming from young stems, brown from roots, black from leaves, and red from fruits. R. coriaria has gained some interest for its ornamental features that could be of value in urban landscaping and gardening [8]

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Conclusion