Simultaneous metabolite fingerprinting of hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds in Echinacea pallida by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry detection

In this study, a detailed phytochemical characterization of Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. root extracts and dietary supplements was carried out for the first time by developing advanced chromatographic techniques, based on HPLC with diode array (DAD) and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) detection (with ion trap and triple quadrupole mass analyzers), for the simultaneous analysis of hydrophilic and lipophilic secondary metabolites. The HPLC analyses were carried out on an Ascentis C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm I.D., 5 μm), with a mobile phase composed by H2O and ACN both containing 0.1% formic acid, under gradient elution. The UV spectra, in combination with MS and MS/MS data, allowed the identification of fourteen compounds, including caffeic acid derivatives, polyacetylenes and polyenes, in the analyzed samples. MS and MS/MS data were discussed in detail and the typical fragmentation patterns of each class of secondary metabolites were identified. For the first time, a hydroperoxide intermediate was characterized as an oxidation product of one of E. pallida monocarbonylic acetylenes, providing a confirmation of the mechanism that leads to the generation of hydroxylated derivatives. The HPLC method was fully validated in agreement with ICH guidelines and then applied to real samples. The quantitative analysis indicated that there was a great variability in the amount of the active compounds in the dietary supplements containing E. pallida root extracts: the content of total caffeic acid derivatives ranged from 2.31 to 11.45 mg/g and the amount of total polyacetylenes and polyenes from 6.38 to 30.54 mg/g. In the analyzed samples, the most abundant caffeic acid derivative was found to be echinacoside. Regarding polyacetylenes and polyenes, the most representative compounds were found to be tetradec-(8Z)-ene-11,13-diyn-2-one, pentedeca-(8Z,11Z)-dien-2-one and pentadec-(8Z)-en-2-one. The developed method can be considered suitable for metabolite fingerprinting and quality control of E. pallida plant material and natural products.