Non-targeted molecular characterisation of a rose flower ethyl acetate extract using Ultra-HPLC with atmospheric pressure photoionisation and quadrupole time-of-flight MS/MS.

Introduction: A non-targeted approach to characterise the phytochemical composition of the flower organ of an original rose cultivar 'Jardin de Granville'® was developed. Particular attention was paid to the less documented molecular families of intermediate polarity, compared with the polyphenol family (anthocyanins, flavonoids, tannins) and volatile compounds.

Objective: To develop a molecular fingerprinting method for the rapid qualitative phytochemical characterisation of the rose flower ethyl acetate extract.

Material And Methods: An ultra-HPLC with atmospheric pressure photoionisation (APPI) and quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) MS/MS combined with microwave-assisted extraction was carried out for ethyl acetate extracts as an intermediate polarity extraction solvent in order to obtain the most exhaustive extract containing a large range of molecular families. An optimised methodology based on the coupling of the UHPLC and APPI source with a QTOF analyser was developed to characterise the extracted molecules.

Results: Sixty-one compounds were identified in the extract, covering eight molecular families of intermediate polarity ranging from polyphenols to triglycerides. The presence of flavonoids with anti-oxidant properties and of triterpenoids with potential anti-inflammatory activity was evidenced and cell-wall constituents such as fatty acids, glycolipids, sphingolipids and acylated sterol glycosides were characterised. Some chlorophyll derivatives were also detected.

Conclusion: The method developed is appropriate for fast phytochemical evaluation of rose ethyl acetate extract. It produced accurate mass and MS/MS spectra, which permitted identification of a wide range of compounds of intermediate polarity.