IDENTIFICATION OF PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS OF AROMATIC HERBS USING UPLC-ESI-MS

Traditional herbs such as chives and parsley are widely used in culinary dishes, food science and therapeutically, since they contain different types of bioactive compounds. Phenolic compounds are omnipresent in the plant kingdom and contribute to aromatic plant properties, including the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases. This study presents the identification of phenolic compounds of parsley, chives, and their mixture (Brazilian cheiro-verde) using a UPLC Acquity chromatographer coupled with a TQD Acquity mass spectrometer (Micromass-Waters) with electrospray ionization (ESI) in the negative ion mode. The compounds were characterized based on their mass spectra, using the precursor ion, fragment ions, and comparison with fragmentation pattern described in the literature. According to the total ion chromatogram (TIC), 24 compounds were identified in the studied samples. Parsley presented a higher number of phenolic compounds (20) than chives (9). The compounds with the highest intensities in parsley were: quercitin-3-O-glucoside, caffeic acid, hesperetin, luteolin, p-hydroxycinnamic acid and apigenin. The compounds identified in chives were: protocatechuic acid (m/z 153), coumaric acid-glucoside (m/z 431), catechin (m/z 289), rutoside (m/z 609), kaempferol (m/z 285), quercetin (m/z 301), luteolin (m/z 285), and ferulic acid (m/z 193). The cheiro-verde samples presented a mix of compounds, which were found in both herbs. Some compounds (protocatechuic acid, luteolin, kaempferol, quercetin, and ferulic acid) were observed in all of the studied samples. It has been established that phenolic compounds are the main plant compounds with antioxidant capacity and this activity is due to their redox properties. Phenolic compounds are a class of antioxidant agents which can adsorb and neutralize the free radicals. Thus, this study identified important phenolic compounds present in the aromatic herbs, which have many beneficial biological effects. Therefore, they are capable of acting as natural antioxidants in food systems.