Bearberry identification by a multidisciplinary study on commercial raw materials.
Herbal species different from the official bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, are sold through conventional markets and also through non-controlled Internet websites, putting consumer safety at risk owing to the lack of quality control. Recently, Arctostaphylos pungens has become one of the most used species as a raw material for herbal medicines and dietary supplements in the place of official bearberry, a plant used for the treatment of various urinary disorders. A fingerprint identification based on an integrated application of different analytical techniques (HPTLC, NMR, HPLC-DAD and LC-ESI-MS) is here described to distinguish A. uva-ursi from A. pungens. The HPTLC and HPLC-DAD fingerprints resulted the simplest methods to differentiate the two species, whereas LC-ESI-MS was more useful to quantify arbutin, the main component of bearberry, and to evaluate its different content in the two species. This multidisciplinary study showed for the first time a specific phytochemical fingerprint of the new species A. pungens.
Dipartimento del Farmaco, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, I-00161 Rome, Italy.
Francesca Romana
FR
Gallo
Giuseppina
G
Multari
Giordana
G
Pagliuca
Alessia
A
Panusa
Giovanna
G
Palazzino
Massimo
M
Giambenedetti
Valentina
V
Petitto
Marcello
M
Nicoletti
D029792:Arctostaphylos / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000302:isolation & purification; D029001:Herbal Medicine / Q000592:standards; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
D005419:Flavonoids