Identification of radical scavenging compounds in Rhaponticum carthamoides by means of LC-DAD-SPE-NMR.

A hyphenated LC-DAD-SPE-NMR setup in combination with on-line radical scavenging detection has been applied for the identification of radical scavenging compounds in extracts of Rhaponticumcarthamoides. After NMR measurements, the pure compounds were infused into a mass spectrometer. The technique enabled selective detection and identification of individual radical scavenging compounds without any prior off-line chromatographic steps. Seven compounds, namely, quercetagetin-7-beta-glucopyranoside (1), quercetagetin-7-(6"-acetyl-beta-glucopyranoside) (3), 6-hydroxykaempferol-7-beta-glucopyranoside (2), 6-methoxykaempferol-3-beta-glucopyranoside (4), 6-hydroxykaempferol-7-(6"-acetyl-beta-glucopyranoside) (5), chlorogenic acid (6), and beta-ecdysone (7), were identified in ethanol or aqueous extracts. Compound 5 is a new natural compound. Its radical scavenging activity was tested against DPPH radical and was found to be weaker than that of the reference antioxidants rosmarinic acid and Trolox.