Phenolic antioxidants (hydrolyzable tannins, flavonols, and anthocyanins) identified by LC-ESI-MS and MALDI-QIT-TOF MS from Rosa chinensis flowers

Yi Zhong Cai, Jie Xing, Mei Sun, Zhao Qi Zhan, Harold Corke*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

139 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rosa chinensis (Yuejihua) is a well-known ornamental plant, and its flowers are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Methanolic crude extracts of dried R. chinensis flowers were used for simultaneous determination of phenolic constituents by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization quadrupole ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-QIT-TOF MS). A total of 36 known and unknown phenolics were identified as hydrolyzable tannins, flavonols, and anthocyanins, mainly including gallotannins (mono-, di-, or trigalloylglucopyranosides), ellagitannins, quercetin, quercetin/kaempferol mono- and diglycosides, and cyanidin/pelargonidin diglycosides. MALDI-QIT-TOF MS was applied not only to verify most phenolics isolated and identified by LC-MS but also to tentatively identify two ellagitannins (rugosins B and C) not isolated and unidentified by LC-MS. This study is the first to demonstrate the rapid and successful use of MALDI-QIT-TOF MS and LC-MS to directly and simultaneously identify phenolics in the crude extracts of R. chinensis flowers without any purification. The antioxidant activity of the crude extracts from R. chinensis flowers was also measured with three assay methods. The results showed that the phenolic antioxidants from R. chinensis flowers exhibited very strong radical scavenging effect and antioxidant power. High levels of flavonols and hydrolyzable tannins might be important bioactive principles in the dried R. chinensis flowers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9940-9948
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Volume53
Issue number26
DOIs
StatePublished - 28 Dec 2005
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anthocyanins
  • Antioxidants
  • Flavonoids
  • Flavonols
  • Hydrolyzable tannins
  • LC-ESI-MS
  • MALDI-QIT-TOF MS
  • Phenolics
  • Rosa chinensis
  • Rose

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