Use of accurate mass full scan mass spectrometry for the analysis of anthocyanins in berries and berry-fed tissues.
Anthocyanins in extracts from raspberries and blueberries were analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC coupled to a high-resolution Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometer (HR-MS) with a resolution of 100,000, operated with an electrospray source in the positive ionization mode. As consumption of anthocyanin-rich berry extracts has been associated with improved cognitive function, brain extracts from European greenfinches ( Carduelis chloris ) that had been fed one blackberry daily for a period of 2 weeks were analyzed by both HPLC with traditional tandem MS in the selected reaction monitoring mode and HPLC-HR-MS. Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside was detected in the brain extracts by both methods, but because of its high level of selectivity, HR-MS was ca. 200-fold more sensitive. A further advantage of HR-MS is that unlike MS-SRM it enables both targeted and nontargeted compounds to be detected and much lower limits of detection are achieved without compromising the selectivity of the analysis.
Mullen
William
W
Plant Products and Human Nutrition Group, Graham Kerr Building, Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK. b.mullen@bio.gla.ac.uk
Larcombe
Stephen
S
Arnold
Kathryn
K
Welchman
Helen
H
Crozier
Alan
A
D000818:Animals; D000872:Anthocyanins / Q000032:analysis*; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000032:analysis*
D000872:Anthocyanins; D010936:Plant Extracts