Separation and identification of volatile constituents in Artemisia argyi flowers by GC-MS with SPME and steam distillation

Artemisia argyi leaf is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this work, for the first time, the separation and identification of volatile constituents in Artemisia argyi flowers is performed. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is developed for the fast analysis of volatile constituents in the flowers. Several headspace SPME parameters, including fiber coating, extraction temperature, and extraction time, are optimized. Forty-nine compounds in the flowers are re-identified by SPME-GC-MS. At the same time, in order to compare with the SPME, steam distillation is used for analysis of the volatile constituents in the flowers, and forty-seven are detected. The total fifty-three compounds in the flowers, which mainly include cylcofenchene, alpha-pinene, alpha-myrcene, D-limonene, caryophyllene, and germacrene D, are identified by the two methods. Compared to the volatile components in Artemisia argyi leaves, the main components (including the two active compounds of borneol and borneol acetate) are also found in Artemisia argyi flowers. These results show that Artemisia argyi flowers as well as leaves might be used as TCM.     

生物检材中芬太尼类物质检测方法研究进展

就芬太尼类物质的代谢及近年来对常见生物检材中此类物质的前处理方法及检测方法进行了综述。常见的生物检材有血液、尿液、毛发,这几种检材都具有各自的检测优势和不足。毒品在血液中代谢速度快,代谢产物浓度高,但对检测时效性要求较高;尿液检测前处理简单,代谢产物易检测,但存在易污染、造假的问题;毛发检测不受其他药物影响,可追溯半年内吸毒史,但前处理步骤复杂,成本偏高。生物检材前处理主要包括液液萃取法(LLE)固相萃取法(SPE)和蛋白质沉淀法,SPE更适用于液体样本的前处理,速度更快且节省溶剂,结果重现性更好;LLE的分离效果更好。常用的检测分析方法有免疫分析法、气相色谱质谱联用法(GC-MS)、液相色谱质谱联用法(LC-MS)等。免疫分析法主要用于初筛。GC-M S主要用于分析一些极性小、易挥发、热稳定性好的物质。相对来说,LC-M S灵敏度更高,适用范围更广,目前被广泛应用。提出未来可以从毒品中存在其他类物质是否影响芬太尼类物质的检测、芬太尼的药代动力学及如何通过芬太尼类物质的空间结构准确检测等几个方面进行深入研究。     

Hypothesis of active components in volatile oil from a Chinese herb formulation, 'Shao-Fu-Zhu-Yu decoction', using GC-MS and chemometrics

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with few or no side effects has increasingly attracted attention all over the world. However, the bioactive components and the therapeutic mechanisms are usually not understood because of the complex chemical compositions of these medicines. In this paper, GC-MS coupled with a chemometric method was developed for analysis of active components in volatile oil from a Chinese herb formulation, "Shao-Fu-Zhu-Yu Decoction". The volatile oils, obtained by hydrodistillation from "Shao-Fu-Zhu-Yu Decoction" (SFZYD) and its constituent herbs with abundant volatile oil (Angelica sinensis, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Cinnamomum cassia, Foeniculum vulgare, Zingiber officinale), were chemically analyzed using GC-MS and bioassayed using oxytocin-induced uterine contraction assay in vitro. Then, a mathematic model relating the chemical compositions and their activities in inhibiting mice uterine contraction was established for hypothesis of the bioactive compounds based on chemometrics. As a result, nine compounds which might contribute to the inhibition of oxytocin-induced uterine contraction were selected, and the activities of some of them were further confirmed by our experiments and/or the literature. The data suggest that the developed method is helpful for screening bioactive components from complex mixtures, such as the extracts of TCM.     

Evaluation of settled floor dust for the presence of microbial metabolites and volatile anthropogenic chemicals in indoor environments by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS methods

This study reports on detection of a large number of biological and anthropogenic pollutants using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS technologies in settled floor dust (SFD). The latter technique was applied to obtain a general picture on the presence of microbial as well as non-microbial volatile organic compounds, whereas the targeted LC-MS/MS analysis focused on identification of species specific secondary metabolites. In the absence of moisture monitoring data the relevance of finding of stachybotrylactam and other metabolites of tertiary colonizers are confined only to accidental direct exposure to SFD. To the best of our knowledge 30 of the 71 identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are newly reported in SFD matrix. Coordinated application of “AMDIS and Spectconnect” was found beneficial for the evaluation and identification of prime volatile pollutants in complex environmental samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) of peak areas of 18 microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) resulted in identification of nonanal as potential MVOC marker. Two more volatiles toluene and 1-tetradecanol though had discriminative influence, are not regarded as MVOC markers, considering their probable alternate origin from paints and cosmetics, respectively.     

便携式气相色谱-质谱仪测定空气中挥发性有机污染物的准确性

便携式气相色谱-质谱仪(便携式GC-MS)能同时对多组分复杂有机物进行定性定量分析,在环境监测尤其是事故现场应急监测中发挥越来越重要的作用。本文比较了便携式GC-MS与EPATO-14A方法分析测定环境空气中低浓度挥发性有机物(VOCs)的性能,并探讨了利用定量环(loop环)模式测定高浓度VOCs的准确度。结果表明,采用内标标准曲线定量,HAPSITE便携式GC-MS测定空气中VOCs的检出限与EPATO-14A方法相当,准确度和精密度略低,但均符合环境监测分析的要求。利用loop环可对大部分10-6级的高浓度VOCs样品进行较为准确的测定,在突发性环境污染事故中可以得到基本准确的结果。     

Relationship between Volatile Composition and Bioactive Potential of Vegetables and Fruits of Regular Consumption—An Integrative Approach

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in studying and exploring the potential health benefits of foods, mainly from vegetables and fruits from regular intake. The presence of secondary metabolites, namely polyphenols, carotenoids and terpenes, in certain food matrices seems to contribute to their functional properties, expressed through an increased prevention in the development of certain chronic diseases, namely coronary heart diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and diabetes. However, some foods’ volatile secondary metabolites also present important bioactive properties, although this is a poorly scientifically explored field. In this context, and in order to explore the potential bioactivity of volatile metabolites in different vegetables and fruits from regular consumption, the volatile composition was established using a green extraction technique, solid phase microextraction in headspace mode (HS-SPME), combined with gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 320 volatile metabolites, comprising 51 terpenic compounds, 45 organosulfur compounds, 31 aldehydes, 37 esters, 29 ketones, 28 alcohols, 23 furanic compounds, 22 hydrocarbons, 19 benzene compounds, 13 nitrogenous compounds, 9 carboxylic acids, 7 ethers, 4 halogenated compounds and 3 naphthalene derivatives, were positively identified. Each investigated fruit and vegetable showed a specific volatile metabolomic profile. The obtained results revealed that terpenic compounds, to which are associated antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities, are the most predominant chemical family in beetroot (61%), orange carrot (58%) and white carrot (61%), while organosulfur compounds (antiviral activity) are dominant in onion, garlic and watercress. Broccoli and spinach are essentially constituted by alcohols and aldehydes (enzyme-inhibition and antimicrobial properties), while fruits from the Solanaceae family are characterized by esters in tamarillo and aldehydes in tomato.     

Distinction and identification of lignins based on their volatile headspace composition

A new non-degradation methodology is proposed for the distinction and identification of lignins, according to their biological origin and/or isolation methodology, using an electronic aroma sensing system. The system, once trained with representative lignins, could quickly and objectively be used as a simple tool by providing, in real-time, information about the lignin origin, based on their headspace volatile composition. In order to understand which kind of volatile compounds are responsible to the different sensors response present in the headspace, lignins were also analysed by headspace-solid phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detection mode (HS-SPME/GC-MS). Among volatile compounds in the lignin headspace were identified a series of aromatic compounds, C14 to C18 fatty acids and an isoprenoid, squalene. It was proposed that a small proportion of volatile degradation products emerged during the lignin partial degradation during the technogenic process (i.e. delignification) play a key role regarding the aroma sensor response.     

Headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with mass spectrometry as a powerful analytical tool for profiling the terpenoid metabolomic pattern of hop-essential oil derived from Saaz variety

Hop (Humulus lupulus L., Cannabaceae family) is prized for its essential oil contents, used in beer production and, more recently, in biological and pharmacological applications. In this work, a method involving headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was developed and optimized to establish the terpenoid (monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes) metabolomic pattern of hop-essential oil derived from Saaz variety as a mean to explore this matrix as a powerful biological source for newer, more selective, biodegradable and naturally produced antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds. Different parameters affecting terpenoid metabolites extraction by headspace solid-phase microextraction were considered and optimized: type of fiber coatings, extraction temperature, extraction time, ionic strength, and sample agitation. In the optimized method, analytes were extracted for 30 min at 40°C in the sample headspace with a 50/30 μm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane coating fiber. The methodology allowed the identification of a total of 27 terpenoid metabolites, representing 92.5% of the total Saaz hop-essential oil volatile terpenoid composition. The headspace composition was dominated by monoterpenes (56.1%, 13 compounds), sesquiterpenes (34.9%, 10), oxygenated monoterpenes (1.41%, 3), and hemiterpenes (0.04%, 1) some of which can probably contribute to the hop of Saaz variety aroma. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the main metabolites are the monoterpene β-myrcene (53.0 ± 1.1% of the total volatile fraction), and the cyclic sesquiterpenes, α-humulene (16.6 ± 0.8%), and β-caryophyllene (14.7 ± 0.4%), which together represent about 80% of the total volatile fraction from the hop-essential oil. These findings suggest that this matrix can be explored as a powerful biosource of terpenoid metabolites.     

Rapid Analysis of the Essential Oil of Acorus tatarinowii Schott by Microwave Distillation, SPME, and GC-MS

The dry rhizome of Acorus tatarinowii Schott is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) which has been used to treat many diseases, for example epilepsy, for thousands of years. In this work, microwave distillation and simultaneous solid-phase microextraction (MD-SPME) were used for analysis of the essential oil in the fresh leaves of Acorus tatarinowii. Isolation, extraction, and concentration of the volatile constituents of the leaves can be completed rapidly, in a single step, by use of MD-SPME; the compounds can then be analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). MD-SPME conditions, including microwave power, irradiation time, and SPME fiber coating, were studied. By use of MD-SPME-GC-MS twenty-nine compounds were identified, for the first time, in the essential oil of the plant leaves; the compounds were the same as those in the rhizomes. This suggests the leaves of the plant might be used as a TCM. To demonstrate the feasibility of the method, conventional steam distillation (SD) was also used for extraction of the essential oil from the leaves. The same compounds, in similar amounts, were identified by both methods, confirming the MD-SPME method is highly reliable. Compared with SD, MD-SPME required less time (only 2 min), less sample (1.0 g), and no organic solvent. These results are indicative of the suitability of MD-SPME-GC-MS for simple, rapid, and solvent-free analysis of plant essential oils.     

代谢组学GC-MS分析方法中样品衍生化技术的新进展

代谢组学是通过考察生物体系受刺激或扰动前后(如某个特定的基因变异或环境变化后)代谢产物的动态变化,研究生物体系代谢网络的一种技术,其研究对象主要是内源性小分子物质.这些物质大部分极性强,难挥发,在气相色谱-质谱分析前,需要进行适当的化学衍生处理.近几年来化学衍生技术发展迅速,本文主要从衍生试剂种类、衍生条件和衍生效果(包括衍生效率、重复性和产物稳定性等)出发,综述了已报道的衍生方法的特点,并展望了衍生技术的发展前景.     

Rapid Extraction of Volatile Compounds Using a New Simultaneous Microwave Distillation: Solvent Extraction Device

Simultaneous distillation–extraction (SDE) is routinely used by analysts for sample preparation prior to gas chromatography analysis. In this work, a new process design and operation for microwave assisted simultaneous distillation–solvent extraction (MW-SDE) of volatile compounds was developed. Using the proposed method, isolation, extraction and concentration of volatile compounds can be carried out in a single step. To demonstrate its feasibility, MW-SDE was compared with the conventional technique, SDE, for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of volatile compounds in a fresh aromatic herb, Zygophyllum album L., a wild salty desert herb belonging to the family Zygophyllaceae. SDE method required a long time (3 h) to isolate the volatile compounds, and large amounts of organic solvent (200 mL of hexane) for further extraction, while MW-SDE needed shorter time (only 30 min) to prepare the sample, and less amount of organic solvent (10 mL of hexane). These results show that MW-SDE–GC-MS is a simple, rapid and solvent-less method for the determination of volatile compounds from aromatic plants.     

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry following pressurized hot water extraction and solid-phase microextraction for quantification of eucalyptol, camphor, and borneol in Chrysanthemum flowers

Chrysanthemum flower is a common traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this work, pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) followed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and GC-MS was developed for the determination of three main active volatile compounds of eucalyptol, camphor, and borneol in Chrysanthemum flowers from four different growing areas in China by internal standard method. The parameters of PHWE and HS-SPME were optimized. The method was also validated. The results showed that PHWE-SPME-GC-MS is a simple, rapid, efficient, and solvent-free technique for the quantitative determination of eucalyptol, camphor, and borneol in TCMs and is potentially useful for the TCM quality assessment.     

杉叶蕨藻挥发性有机物的组成特点

杉叶蕨藻是全球具有较强破坏力的入侵海藻.不同于顶空固相微萃取-GC/MS测试方法,研究采用吹扫/捕集-GC/MS,根据标准化合物图库直接对杉叶蕨藻的挥发性有机物(VOCs)成分进行定性和半定量分析,共分离鉴定出65种VOCs,主要是酚类、呋喃类、醛类、醇类、酮类等化合物.其中酚类、呋喃类等具有一定毒性的化合物百分比含量较高,可能对其它海藻的生长具有抑制作用.对大气环境具有重要影响的卤代烃、苯系物以及含硫有机化合物在杉叶蕨藻挥发性组分中也有大量检出.     

色谱在药物-机体复杂巨系统研究中的应用进展

色谱是一门以分离分析为主,旨在追求复杂事物纯而净的分析化学的重要分支学科。其经过百余年的发展,理论与技术日臻完善,集科学、技术与艺术于一体。近年来,色谱及其与质谱、核磁共振波谱、原子发射光谱等联用技术极大推动了环境、食品、石油化工、生物医药等领域中所涉及复杂体系的研究进展。作为我国传统文化的核心代表,中医药为中国乃至世界人民的健康服务逾千年,从古至今历经上千年临床考验,疗效经久不衰。近年来,中国政府强调继承与创新,加大推进中医药的现代化与国际化。然而中药自身的多成分协同起效复杂性及其与机体时刻新陈代谢变化的复杂性往往相互作用,由此形成了药物-机体复杂巨系统。该复杂巨系统的分析研究是中医药现代化进程的关键瓶颈。色谱的优势在于复杂成分的分离与分析,此恰能为上述复杂巨系统提供技术支撑,色谱及其联用技术已成为推动中医药分子化、数字化、信息化乃至现代化的主流技术。该文综述了色谱及其联用技术在中药复杂体系、复杂生命过程及药物-机体复杂巨系统中的应用进展,介绍了笔者研究团队对中医药现代化的认识、研究思路和研究工作,最后笔者结合对于百年色谱与千年中医药文化之现代化交织的感悟,对色谱技术在此领域的前景做出了展望。     

Comparison of various extraction methods for identification and determination of volatile metabolites from the brown alga Dictyopteris membranacea

Three different methods: hydrodistillation (HD), focused microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (FMAHD) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) have been applied, for the first time together, for the extraction of volatile metabolites of the brown alga Dictyopteris membranacea. The oils obtained were analyzed by GC-MS (identification and determination of metabolites) and the results were compared. The main chemical classes of compounds identified were C11 hydrocarbons for HD method, sesquiterpenes for FMAHD method and sulphur compounds for SFE method.     

Infrared methods for high throughput screening of metabolites: food and medical applications

Chemical and physiological properties are related to individual or bioactive compounds such as essential oils, terpenoids, flavonoids, volatile compounds and other chemicals which are present in natural products in low concentrations (e.g. ppm or ppb). For many years, classical separation, chromatographic and spectrometric techniques such as high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) have been used for the elucidation of isolated compounds from different matrices. Hence, the use of standard separation, chromatographic and spectrometric methods was found useful in chemical and both plant and animal physiology studies, for fingerprinting and comparing natural and synthetic samples, as well as to identify single active compounds. It has been generally accepted that a single analytical technique will not provide sufficient visualization of the metabolome, hence holistic techniques are needed for comprehensive analysis. In the last 40 years near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy became one of the most attractive and used methods of analyzing agricultural related products and plant materials which provide simultaneous, rapid and non-destructive quantitation of major. This technique has been reported to determine other minor compounds in plant materials such as volatile compounds and elements. The aim of this short review is to describe some recent applications of NIR spectroscopy combined with multivariate data analysis for high throughput screening of metabolites with an emphasis on food and medical applications.     

Higher mass loadability in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for improved analytical performance in metabolomics analysis

A major challenge in metabolomics analysis is the accurate quantification of metabolites in the presence of (extremely) high abundant metabolites. Quantification of metabolites at low concentrations can be complicated by co-elution and/or peak distortion when these metabolites elute close to high abundant metabolites. To increase the separation efficiency a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method (GC x GC-MS) was set up, in which a polar first dimension column and an apolar second dimension column were used to maximize the peak capacity. The feasibility of using wider bore, thicker film columns in the second dimension to improve the mass loadability and inertness of the analytical system was investigated. Several column combinations with varying second dimension column dimensions were compared with a setup with a narrow bore column (0.1mm I.D.) in the second dimension. With a wider bore column (0.32 mm I.D.) in the second dimension the mass loadability was improved 10-fold, and the more inert column surface of the thicker film second dimension column resulted in a more accurate (automated) quantification and improved linearity in the presence of high concentrations of matrix compounds or metabolites. These benefits amply compensated the observed decrease in peak capacity of 40% compared to the narrow bore (0.1mm I.D.) thin film second dimension column. Compared to GC-MS and conventional GC x GC-MS, better performance for quantification of metabolites for typical metabolomics samples was achieved.     

Volatile Compounds of Lemon and Grapefruit IntegroPectin

An HS-SPME GC-MS analysis of the volatile compounds adsorbed at the outer surface of lemon and grapefruit pectins obtained via the hydrodynamic cavitation of industrial waste streams of lemon and grapefruit peels in water suggests important new findings en route to understanding the powerful and broad biological activity of these new pectic materials. In agreement with the ultralow degree of esterification of these pectins, the high amount of highly bioactive α-terpineol and terpinen-4-ol points to limonene (and linalool) decomposition catalyzed by residual citric acid in the citrus waste peel residue of the juice industrial production.     

顶空气相色谱-质谱联用技术的应用进展

顶空分析作为一种无有机溶剂萃取的样品处理技术,通常与气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）技术结合用来分析复杂基质中的挥发性有机物。顶空气相色谱-质谱（HS-GC-MS）技术具有快速、高效、环保、灵敏度高等特点,在常规分析中发挥着重要作用。该文简要概述了静态顶空、动态顶空、顶空固相微萃取分析以及GC-MS联用技术,并介绍了整个顶空分析系统的影响因素和优化过程。根据基质类型的分类,综述了HS-GC-MS在食品和饮料、环境、生物等样品中的应用实例。HS-GC-MS的研究非常活跃,不断出现新应用,在分析挥发性有机物方面具有广阔前景。