The 4th MS-NatMedDay took place in Salerno on 15 and 16 February, a biennial conference organized by the Mass Spectrometry Division of the Italian Chemical Society (DSM-SCI) aimed at researchers interested in the sector of Mass Spectrometry applied to medicinal plants and nutraceutical products of plant origin. The study of phytocomplexes contained in plant matrices, in fact, has always been a difficult challenge for researchers and mass spectrometry represents an indispensable technique to achieve the objective of phytochemical characterization of natural products.
Two posters proposed by the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy contributed to enriching the scientific program of the conference.
Dr. Marco Fumagalli, laboratory technician, presented the results of the analysis of a hydroalcoholic extract obtained from the aerial parts of Cistus x incanus L. In particular in the Mediterranean area, plants belonging to the Cistus genus are traditionally used for inflammatory and infectious disorders linked to cutaneous, respiratory and gastrointestinal areas. Precisely in relation to his biological activity in the gastrointestinal tract, the extract of Cistus x incanus was the subject of a study conducted in the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy in a model in vitro of gastric inflammation induced by Helicobacter pylori, highlighting its ability to counteract the inflammatory phenomenon caused by the infection of the bacterium. The analytical characterization of the extract, carried out by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), identified the presence of flavonols, such as quercetin-3-O-glucoside, kaempferol-3-glucoside and myricitrin-3- rhamnoside. The ellagitannin punicalagin, derivatives of punicalin hydrolysis and ellagic acid, as well as catechins and condensed tannins (procyanidins B1 and B3) have been identified as minor compounds.
Dr. Carola Pozzoli, third year PhD student, presented the results of the research conducted in the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy on the biological activity of a hydroalcoholic extract obtained from chestnut bur (Castanea sativa L.), which revealed a potential anti-inflammatory activity in an in vitro model of intestinal inflammation (human intestinal CaCo-2 cells). The polyphenolic profile of the extract was defined by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and the HPLC/LTQ system coupled to ion trap with negative ESI ionization. Two ellagitannins, castalagin and vescalagin, were thus identified as compounds characterizing the extract. The results of this work were obtained thanks to the financial support of the Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) 2022Z3RN9X, funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU and the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR).
