Ginsenosides analysis

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the present state of knowledge on the chemistry, bios)mthesis, analysis, and pharmacological effects of ginsenosides. The latter clearly demonstrate the potential health effects of this interesting group of compounds. 

With the development of sophisticated ionization techniques including electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), HPLC-MS techniques have been successfully applied to the online analysis of ginsenosides in extracts and biological fluids (Fuzzati, 2004). In terms of sensitivity and specificity, an MS detector is better than UV or ELSD. Among the various MS methods, the HPLC-MS-MS (or just LC-MS-MS) technique is to date the most sensitive method for detection and quantification of ginsenosides. 

LC-APCI-MS has been shown to very useful for the characterization of both neutral ginsenosides as well as thermolabile malonyl-ginsenosides in ginseng extracts (Ma et al., 2005). However, LC-MS with ESI interface is a highly sensitive and soft ionization technique for the LC-MS analysis of thermolabile compounds and is considered to be the best method for the analysis of ginsenosides as it can overcome most problems associated with the thermolabile malonyl-ginsenosides and low molecular ion abim-dance levels. LC-ESI-MS is characterized by abundant adduct formation... 

Choi, D.-W., Jung, J., Ha, Y. I., Park, H.-W., In, D. S., Chung, H.-J., and Liu, J. R. (2005). Analysis of transcripts in methyl jasmonate-treated ginseng hairy roots to identify genes involved in the biosjmthesis of ginsenosides and other secondary metabolites. Plant Cell Rep. 23, 557-566. 

Corbit, R. M., Ferreira, J. F. S., Ebbs, S. D., and Murphy, L. L. (2005). Simplified extraction of ginsenosides from American ginseng (Panax quinquefoUus L.) for high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet analysis. /. Agric. Food Chem. 53, 9867-9873. 

Cui, M., Song, F., Liu, Z., and Liu, S. (2001). Metal ion adducts in the structural analysis of ginsenosides by electrospray ionization with multi-stage mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 15, 586-595. 

Iwagami, S., Sawabe, Y., and Nakagawa, T. (1992). Micellar electrokinetic chromatography for the analysis of crude drugs (III) Separation of ginsenosides in ginseng radix. Shoya-kugaku Zasshi 46,339-347. 

Ludwiczuk, A., Wolski, T., and Berbec, S. (2002). Chromatographic analysis of ginsenosides occurring in the roots of American ginseng (Panax quinqu olium L.) and in Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) preparations. /. Planar Chromatogr. 15,147-150. 

Pietta, P., Mauri, P., and Rava, A. (1986a). Improved high-performance liquid high-performance liquid chromatography method for the analysis of ginsenosides in Panax ginseng extracts and products. /. Chromatogr. 356,212-219. 

Takino, Y., Odani, T., Tanizawa, H., and Hayashi, T. (1982). Studies on the absorption, distribution, excretion and metabolism of ginseng saponins. I. Quantitative analysis of ginsenoside Rgi in rats. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 30, 2196-2201. 

Fig. 2.3 HPLC analysis of ginsenosides recovered from the spent medium of Trichoderma hamatum and Pythium irregulare isolates. A ginsenoside mixture extracted from 3-year-old ginseng roots was added to the culture medium of both T. hamatum and Pythium irregulare, recovered after several days of incubation and analyzed by HPLC. The profile of ginsenosides added to the culture medium (a) included ginsenosides Rgi, Re, Rbi, Rba, Rc, Rd, and F2, as well as gypenoside XVII (G-XVII). (b-e) Profiles of ginsenosides recovered from T. hamatum isolate 3-323 (b), and Pythium irregulare isolates BR 486 (c), BR 598 (d), and BR 1068 (e).

Fig. 5.3 Correlation between total ginsenoside content and log-transformed IC50 values. The IC50 values of different ginseng products were plotted against their total ginsenoside content. Only products quantified by HPLC-DAD were included in the analysis. Pearson correlation yielded a value of r = -0.997...

Table 5.1 Characterization of ginsenoside content and composition across products through HPLC-DAD analysis...

This is the first attempt to examine family-held ginseng landraces that have been in cultivation for several decades. Clearly, there is evidence of variation between these landraces. Although HPLC-DAD analysis clearly quantified ginsenoside levels and showed variability, it did not present unique characteristics that would rapidly identify each landrace. Currenfiy, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methods are... 

Presence of these ginsenosides is the chemical marker that characterize P. ginseng C.A. Meyer, as well as its extracts and galenic forms. By the 1970s at the ETH-Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, we had developed new analytical technologies for the analysis of medicinal plants.4"6 We created HPLC analytical methods for the quantification of the ginsenosides contained in roots and finished products.7 9 Before then, various methods... 

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