Simultaneous Determination of Six Marker Compounds inPiper nigrumL. and Species Comparison Study Using High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants is usually a significant challenge in phytochemical analysis because of the natural chemical complexity of plant extracts. However, there exists a need for analytical tools which can quantitatively separate and characterize the components from these biosources with greater chromatographic selectivity and lesser analytical run times that facilitate the evaluation with enhanced separation profiles. Hyphenation of thin-layer chromatography (TLC/HPTLC) with mass spectrometry (MS) is an alternative for screening herbal extracts because of its rapid analysis and ability to aid structural characterization with powerful analytical capacity. The aim of the present study was to develop a sophisticated analytical method which utilizes HPTLC-MS coupling for the chromatographic profiling and evaluation of the therapeutically important genus Piper (Piperaceae). In this study, six marker compounds, namely, trichostachine, piperine, 4,5-dihydropiperlonguminine, guineensine, pellitorine, and sesamin were analyzed and quantified in extracts of Piper nigrum L. and compared with those of Piper longum L. and Piper chaba Hunter. All the samples tested showed similar phytochemical profiles, but the contents of the active ingredients varied. Additionally, HPTLC-MS further allowed confirming the identification of the constituents in the analyzed samples with greater chromatographic selectivity where HPTLC facilitated a selective chromatographic resolution, while MS offered an efficient characterization of the target compounds in one analytical run. The study finds a potential utility in adopting HPTLC-MS as a rapid and high throughput method for the efficient quantification and identification of marker compounds from medicinal plants.