Authenticity study of commercial samples of St. John's wort by paper spray ionization mass spectrometry and chemometric tools

• Published in: Journal of mass spectrometry. Vol. 58; no. 7; pp. e4960 - n/a
• Main Authors: Miguita, Ana Gabriella Carvalho, Augusti, Rodinei, Sena, Marcelo Martins, Nascentes, Clésia Cristina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-07-2023
• Subjects: adulterated medicines; ambient ionization mass spectrometry; Brazil; Chemometrics; Counterfeit; Ethanol; Herbal medicine; herbal medicines; Humans; Hypericum; Hypericum perforatum; Ionization; Ions; Mass Spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Medicinal plants; Mental disorders; pattern recognition; Plant Oils; Plants; Principal components analysis; Quality control; Scientific imaging; Solvent extraction; Brazil; ambient ionization mass spectrometry; chemometrics; herbal medicines; adulterated medicines; pattern recognition
• ISSN: 1076-5174; 1096-9888
• DOI: 10.1002/jms.4960

Hypericum perforatum L. (St. John's wort) is one of the world's most consumed medicinal plants for treating depression and psychiatric disorders. Counterfeiting can occur in the medicinal plant trade, either due to the lack of active ingredients or the addition of substances not mentioned on the labels, often without therapeutic value or even harmful to health. Hence, 43 samples of St. John's wort commercially acquired in different Brazilian regions and other countries were analyzed by paper spray ionization mass spectrometry (PS‐MS) and modeled by principal component analysis. Hence, samples (plants, capsules, and tablets) were extracted with ethanol in a solid–liquid extraction. For the first time, PS‐MS analysis allowed the detection of counterfeit H. perforatum samples containing active principles typical of other plants, such as Ageratum conyzoides and Senna spectabilis. About 52.3% of the samples were considered adulterated for having at least one of these two species in their composition. Furthermore, out of 35 samples produced in Brazil, only 13 were deemed authentic, having only H. perforatum. Therefore, there is a clear need to improve these drugs' quality control in Brazil.