• Food Science and Preservation
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.28-41
• /
• 2023

Non-aflatoxigenic Aspergillus oryzae and aflatoxigenic A. flavus cannot be clearly identified by partial sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 18S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (18S rRNA) regions. This study aimed to compare the accuracy among three aflatoxin detection methods using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit and to select the non-aflatoxigenic Aspergillus sp. isolated from soybean paste. All analytical methods were suitable according to the international standards of Codex Alimentarius FAO-WHO (CODEX) or the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). UPLC exhibited the best of limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ). Based on UPLC, HPLC, and the ELISA kit assay, the P5 and P7 strains isolated from soybean paste had 1,663.49, 1,468.12, and >20 ㎍/kg and 1,470.08, 1,056.73, and >20 ㎍/kg, respectively, detected and re-identified as A. flavus. In contrast, the P3 and P4 strains (A. oryzae), which were detected below the MFDS standards in all assays, were confirmed as non-aflatoxigenic fungi. Among the methods evaluated for quantitative analysis of aflatoxin, UPLC and HPLC are superior in terms of accuracy, and the ELISA kit rapidly detects low concentrations of aflatoxin. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that any Aspergillus sp. isolated for use as a fermentation starter should be analyzed for potential aflatoxin production using UPLC and HPLC for accurate quantitative analysis or ELISA for the rapid detection of low-level concentrations of aflatoxin.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.382-394
• /
• 2016

Background: Ginsenosides are the characteristic and principal components which manifest a variety of the biological and pharmacological activities of the roots and rhizomes of Panax ginseng (GRR). This study was carried out to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the ginsenosides in the cultivated and forest GRR. Methods: A rapid and sensitive ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detector and quadrupole/time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD-QTOF-MS/MS) was applied to the qualitative analysis of ginsenosides and a 4000 QTRAP triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (HPLC-ESI-MS) was applied to quantitative analysis of 19 ginsenosides. Results: In the qualitative analysis, all ingredients were separated in 10 min. A total of 131 ginsenosides were detected in cultivated and forest GRR. The method for the quantitative determination was validated for linearity, precision, and limits of detection and quantification. 19 representative ginsenosides were quantitated. The total content of all 19 ginsenosides in the forest GRR were much higher than those in the cultivated GRR, and were increased with the growing ages. Conclusion: This newly developed analysis method could be applied to the quality assessment of GRR as well as the distinction between cultivated and forest GRR.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.49-58
• /
• 2019

Eleven steroid hormones (SHs: androstene-3,17-dione, estrone, ${\beta}$-estradiol, ${\alpha}$-estradiol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, $17{\acute{a}}$-hydroxyprogesterone, medroxyprogesterone, megestrol acetate, progesterone, and androsterone) were detected from New Zealand deer (Cervus elaphus var. scoticus) velvet antler (NZA, 鹿茸 ). A method for the quantification of eleven SHs was established by using ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC)-MS/MS. The linearities ($R^2$ > 0.991), limits of quantification (LOQ values, 0.3 ng/mL to 23.1 ng/mL), intraday and interday precisions (relative standard deviation: RSD < 2.43%), and recovery rates (97.3% to 104.6%) for all eleven SHs were determined. In addition, a method for the quantification of three 7-oxycholesterols (7-O-CSs: 7-ketocholesterol, $7{\alpha}$-hydroxycholesterol, and $7{\beta}$-hydroxycholesterol) in the NZA was established by using an HPLC-photodiode array (PDA) method. The linearities ($R^2$ > 0.999), LOQ values (30 ng/mL to 350 ng/mL), intraday and interday precisions (RSD < 1.93%), and recovery rates (97.2% to 103.5%) for the three 7-O-CSs were determined. These quantitative methods are accurate, precise, and reproducible. As a result, it is suggested that the five steroid compounds of androstene-3,17-dione, androsterone, 7-ketocholesterol, $7{\alpha}$-hydroxycholesterol, and $7{\beta}$-hydroxycholesterol could be marker steroids of NZA. These methods can be applied to quantify or standardize the marker steroids present in NZA.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.168-180
• /
• 2022

Ephedra is a genus of the Ephedraceae family and is found in temperate regions, such as Central Asia and Europe. Among the various ephedra species, Ma Huang (Ephedra herb) is derived from the aerial parts of Ephedra sinica S tapf, Ephedra equisetina Bunge, and Ephedra intermedia Schrenk & C.A. Mey. Ma Huang contains various ephedra alkaloids, including (-)-ephedrine, (+)-pseudoephedrine, (-)-norephedrine, (+)-norpseudoephedrine, (-)-methylephedrine, and (+)-methylpseudoephedrine, which are found naturally as single enantiomers, although they can be prepared as racemates. Although the use of Ma Huang in foods is prohibited in Korea, products containing Ma Huang can be imported, and so it is necessary to develop a suitable analytical technique for the detection of Ma Huang in foods. Herein, we report the development of analytical methods for the detection of ephedra alkaloids in products containing Ma Huang. Following sample purification by solid phase extraction, quantitative analysis was performed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Additionally, the enantiomers were successfully separated using HPLC-DAD. We successfully analyzed various food samples, where the ephedra alkaloids were qualitatively and quantitatively determined, and the enantiomers were separated. It is expected that these methods may contribute toward preventing the distribution of illegal products containing Ma Huang.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2010.05a
• /
• pp.5-5
• /
• 2010

Selection of specific medicinal sources as well as bioactive compounds is important for the preparation of medicine and related products with good quality. It is necessary to pay close attention for choosing correct medicinal sources, particularly in case of medicinal plants, because of their diversity, which can affect the quality and efficacy of medicine. Discrimination of plants based on morphological or genetic characteristics has been used as a conventional classification method of pharmaceutical sources so far; however, more need demands more general methods for accurate quality assessment of medicinal plants. In this study, ultra performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF MS) technique applied to this metabolic profiling is a powerful tool due to its higher sensitivity, resolution, and speed compared to conventional HPLC technique. The metabolite profiling of several medicinal plants including Panax ginseng was carried out using UPLC/Q-TOF MS and total metabolites were then subsequently applied to various statistical tools to compare the patterns. The developed metabolomics tool with UPLC/Q-TOF MS successfully identified and classified the samples tested according to their origins.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.46 no.3
• /
• pp.276-282
• /
• 2014

An accurate and sensitive analytical method was established for the simultaneous determination of synephrine and n-methyltyramine contents by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) with a fluorescence detector (FLD). A 70:30 (v/v) mixture of 10 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and acetonitrile was used as the mobile phase. The coefficient of correlation ($r^2$) was 0.9999 for both synephrine and n-methyltyramine, and their limits of detection (LOD) were 0.02 and 0.01 mg/kg, respectively. The percentage recoveries for synephrine and n-methyltyramine were 96.4% and 100.9%, respectively, from bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) samples. The synephrine and n-methyltyramine contents were 38.07-118.21 mg/kg and 0.27-0.56 mg/kg, respectively, in the orange fruit samples, while they were 14.61-120.39 mg/kg and up to 3.34 mg/kg, respectively, in the tested commercial orange juice samples. The differences in synephrine and n-methyltyramine content between orange fruit and commercial orange juice were not significant (p<0.05). These results suggest that UPLC-FLD can be applied to develop an analytical method of quality control for commercial orange juice.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.63 no.4
• /
• pp.407-412
• /
• 2020

A simple and reliable HPLC method was developed to determine pharmacologically standard marker compounds of Ulmus parvifolia leaves. Standard markers were characterized with neochlorogenic acid (trans-5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-CQA) and chlorogenic acid (trans-3-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3-CQA) using NMR and UPLC-QTof-MS analysis. A method for qualitative/quantitative analysis of the leaves extracts were evaluated including two compounds by using HPLC. The stability test of 30% ethanolic extracts of the leaves sample and standard markers have been evaluated for six months. However, no significant changes in the content of the marker compounds of each extract was observed during the time of investigation.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.34 no.9
• /
• pp.2663-2670
• /
• 2013

The purpose of stability testing is to provide evidence about how the quality of a drug varies with time under the influence of a variety of environmental factors. In this study, erythropoietin (EPO) was analyzed under different pH (pH 3 and pH 9) and temperature ($25^{\circ}C$ and $40^{\circ}C$) conditions according to current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) and International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines. The molecular weight difference between intact EPO and deglycosylated EPO was determined by SDS-PAGE, and aggregated forms of EPO under thermal stress and high-pH conditions were investigated by size exclusion chromatography. High pH and high temperature induced increases in dimer and high molecular weight aggregate forms of EPO. UPLC-ESI-TOF-MS was applied to analyze the changed modification sites on EPO. Further, normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was performed to identify proposed glycan structures and high pH anion exchange chromatography was carried out to investigate any change in carbohydrate composition. The results demonstrated that there were no changes in modification sites or the glycan structure under severe conditions; however, the number of dimers and aggregates increased at $40^{\circ}C$ and pH 9, respectively.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.149-157
• /
• 2018

Background: Panax notoginseng leaves (PNL) exhibit extensive activities, but few analytical methods have been established to exclusively determine the dammarane triterpene saponins in PNL. Methods: Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF MS) and HPLC-UV methods were developed for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of ginsenosides in PNL, respectively. Results: Extraction conditions, including solvents and extraction methods, were optimized, which showed that ginsenosides Rc and Rb3, the main components of PNL, are transformed to notoginsenosides Fe and Fd, respectively, in the presence of water, by removing a glucose residue from position C-3 via possible enzymatic hydrolysis. A total of 57 saponins were identified in the methanolic extract of PNL by UPLC/Q-TOF MS. Among them, 19 components were unambiguously characterized by their reference substances. Additionally, seven saponins of PNL-ginsenosides Rb1, Rc, Rb2, and Rb3, and notoginsenosides Fc, Fe, and Fd-were quantified using the HPLC-UV method after extraction with methanol. The separation of analytes, particularly the separation of notoginsenoside Fc and ginsenoside Rc, was achieved on a Zorbax ODS C8 column at a temperature of $35^{\circ}C$. This developed HPLC-UV method provides an adequate linearity ($r^2$ > 0.999), repeatability (relative standard deviation, RSD < 2.98%), and inter- and intraday variations (RSD < 4.40%) with recovery (98.7-106.1%) of seven saponins concerned. This validated method was also conducted to determine seven components in 10 batches of PNL. Conclusion: These findings are beneficial to the quality control of PNL and its relevant products.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.248-256
• /
• 2012

Aza-indoles are important pharmacophores that have similar size and biological properties of indole. Here we have synthesized 4- and 7-azaindole tryptamines and showed that they are successfully incorporated in the biosynthesis of monoterepene indole alkaloids (MIAs) to form novel azaindole alkaloids by enzymatic reactions of strictosidine synthase(STR) and strictosidine glucosidase(SDG) monitored by UPLC/MS. By using HPLC equipped with a HPLC photo diode array(PDA) detector, each of the UV spectra of azaindole alkaloids was obtained and characterized. When hydrophilicity of azaindole alkaloids was compared, 4-azaindole alkaloids were more hydrophilic than 7-azaindole alkaloids.