Quantitation of chlorophylls and 22 of their colored degradation products in culinary aromatic herbs by HPLC-DAD-MS and correlation with color changes during the dehydration process.
Chlorophylls and their green and olive-brown derivatives were successfully separated from culinary herb extracts by HPLC with photodiode-array and mass spectrometry detection. The method involved a ternary gradient elution and reverse-phase separation conditions capable of resolving 24 different pigments (2 chlorophylls and 22 of their derivatives) of different polarities within 28 min. The method was applied to monitor color changes in 50 samples of culinary aromatic herbs subjected to five different drying treatments. Of the 24 pigments, 14 were key to understanding the differences between the primary degradation pathways of chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b in culinary herbs during drying processes. A color degradation ladder based on the total molar percentage of all the remaining green pigments was also proposed as a tool to measure the impact of drying treatments on aromatic herb visual aspects.
EMEA Centre of Analytical Sciences, McCormick France , 999 Avenue des Marchés, 84200 Carpentras, France.
Jean-Louis
JL
Lafeuille
Stéphane
S
Lefèvre
Julie
J
Lebuhotel
D019659:Asteraceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003116:Color; D003890:Desiccation; D005511:Food Handling; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry*; D017365:Spices / Q000032:analysis*
D010936:Plant Extracts; D002734:Chlorophyll