Profiling of Phytochemicals in Tissues from Sclerocarya birrea by HPLC-MS and Their Link with Antioxidant Activity

Daniela Russo,Owen Kenny,Nigel P Brunton,Mohammad B Hossain,Dilip K Rai,Thomas J Smyth,Luigi Milella,Moussoukhoye Sissokho Diop

doi:10.1155/2013/283462

Abstract

High performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was employed to investigate the differences in phytochemicals in roots, bark, and leaf of Sclerocarya birrea (marula) for methanol and water extracts that exhibited the best antioxidant activities. As many as 36 compounds were observed in the extracts of these tissues of which 27 phenolic compounds were tentatively identified. The HPLC-MS/MS results showed flavonoid glycosides were prominent in leaf extracts while the galloylated tannins were largely in bark and root extracts. Four flavonoid glycosides that were reported for the first time in the marula leaf have been identified. The HPLC-MS/MS studies also illustrated different degrees (highest degree = 3) of oligomerisation and galloylation of tannins in the bark and root extracts.

Highlights

The marula tree has been the subject of numerous chemical, biological, and environmental investigations since 1906 [3] and has been identified as one of five fruit tree species that should be integrated in the domestication process in African farming system [4, 5]
A comparison of DPPH IC50 values between the lowest and highest antioxidant activity confirmed that the leaf hexane, bark ethyl acetate, and root hexane extracts had a significantly (P < 0.05) lower antioxidant potential than the leaf
The present study has shown that the bark and root extracts had even higher antioxidant activity than the leaf extracts

Summary

Introduction

Rich.) Hochst, more commonly known as marula, is taxonomically derived from the Anacardiaceae plant family It is an indigenous, fruit-bearing tree of subSaharan Africa [1]. The marula tree has been the subject of numerous chemical, biological, and environmental investigations since 1906 [3] and has been identified as one of five fruit tree species that should be integrated in the domestication process in African farming system [4, 5] This is due to its use as source of food and medicine in rural communities and its potential to generate income through the sale of its derivates. One previous study has investigated the phenolic composition of the bark, where

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Conclusion