title: Chromatographic fingerprinting as a strategy to identify regulated plants in illegal herbal supplements.
abstract: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a sexual disorder characterized by the inability to achieve or maintain a sufficiently rigid erection. Despite the availability of non-invasive oral treatment options, many patients turn to herbal alternatives. Furthermore, herbal supplements are increasingly gaining popularity in industrialized countries and, as a consequence, quality control is a highly important issue. Unfortunately, this is not a simple task since plants are often crushed and mixed with other plants, which complicates their identification by usage of classical approaches such as microscopy. The aim of this study was to explore the potential use of chromatographic fingerprinting to identify plants present in herbal preparations intended for the treatment of ED. To achieve this goal, a HPLC-PDA and a HPLC-MS method were developed, using a full factorial experimental design in order to acquire characteristic fingerprints of three plants which are potentially beneficial for treating ED: Epimedium spp., Pausinystalia yohimbe and Tribulus terrestris. The full factorial design demonstrated that for all three plant references a C8 column (250mm×4.6mm; 5µm particle size) is best suited; methanol and an ammonium formate buffer (pH 3) were found to be the best constituents for the mobile phase. The suitability of this strategy was demonstrated by analysing several self-made triturations in three different botanical matrices, which mimic the influential effects that could be expected when analysing herbal supplements. To conclude, this study demonstrates that chromatographic fingerprinting could provide a useful means to identify plants in a complex herbal mixture.
authors.affiliation: Division of Food, Medicines and Consumer Safety, Section Medicinal Products, Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), J. Wytsmanstraat 14, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium; Research group NatuRA (Natural products and Food - Research and Analysis), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Custers
authors.affiliation: Research group NatuRA (Natural products and Food - Research and Analysis), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van Praag
authors.affiliation: Division of Food, Medicines and Consumer Safety, Section Medicinal Products, Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), J. Wytsmanstraat 14, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Courselle
authors.affiliation: Research group NatuRA (Natural products and Food - Research and Analysis), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Apers
authors.affiliation: Division of Food, Medicines and Consumer Safety, Section Medicinal Products, Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), J. Wytsmanstraat 14, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: Eric.Deconinck@wiv-isp.be.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Deconinck
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis*; D005607:Fraud / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry
keywords: Erectile dysfunction; Fingerprints; Herbal preparations; High Performance Liquid Chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Photodiode array detection