A novel method for the quality control of saffron through the simultaneous analysis of authenticity and adulteration markers by liquid chromatography-(quadrupole-time of flight)-mass spectrometry.
A liquid chromatography-(quadrupole-time of flight)-mass spectrometry methodology was developed to assess the authenticity of saffron through the analysis of a group of kaempferol derivatives recently proposed as novel authenticity markers as a result of a metabolomic study of saffron (kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, kaempferol 3-O-sophoroside, kaempferol 3,7-O-diglucoside, kaempferol 3,7,4'-O-triglucoside, kaempferol 3-O-sophoroside-7-O-glucoside). Geniposide was also studied as an adulteration marker of saffron with gardenia. The optimized chromatographic conditions enabling the simultaneous separation of glycosylated kaempferols and geniposide consisted of the use of a C18 column and an elution gradient with acetonitrile and water as mobile phases (both with formic acid at 0.1%). A strategy was proposed to evaluate the minimum quantifiable adulteration percentage which was established at a 0.2% regardless of the adulterant employed. The analysis of nineteen commercial samples showed the method to be specific and suitable for saffron quality control.
Departamento de Química Analítica, Química Física e Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km. 33.600, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Miguel
M
Guijarro-Díez
Departamento de Química Analítica, Química Física e Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km. 33.600, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
María
M
Castro-Puyana
Departamento de Química Analítica, Química Física e Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km. 33.600, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Antonio Luis
AL
Crego
Departamento de Química Analítica, Química Física e Ingeniería Química, Universidad de Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km. 33.600, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: mluisa.marina@uah.es.
María Luisa
ML
Marina
D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D027622:Crocus / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D011786:Quality Control
Authenticity markers; Geniposide; Glycosylated kaempferols; Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; QTOF; Quality control; Saffron