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Identification of Ginkgo biloba supplements adulteration using high performance thin layer chromatography and ultra high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry

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Abstract

Ginkgo biloba is one of the most widely sold herbal supplements and medicines in the world. Its popularity stems from having a positive effect on memory and the circulatory system in clinical studies. As ginkgo popularity increased, non-proprietary extracts were introduced claiming to have a similar phytochemical profile as the clinically tested extracts. The standardized commercial extracts of G. biloba leaf used in ginkgo supplements contain not less than 6 % sesquiterpene lactones and 24 % flavonol glycosides. While sesquiterpene lactones are unique constituents of ginkgo leaf, the flavonol glycosides are found in many other botanical extracts. Being a high value botanical, low quality ginkgo extracts may be subjected to adulteration with flavonoids to meet the requirement of 24 % flavonol glycosides. Chemical analysis by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed that adulteration of ginkgo leaf extracts in many of these products is common, the naturally flavonol glycoside-rich extract being spiked with pure flavonoids or extracts made from another flavonoid-rich material, such as the fruit/flower of Japanese sophora (Styphnolobium japonicum), which also contains the isoflavone genistein. Recently, genistein has been proposed as an analytical marker for the detection of adulteration of ginkgo extracts with S. japonicum. This study confirms that botanically authenticated G. biloba leaf and extracts made therefrom do not contain genistein, and the presence of which even in trace amounts is suggestive of adulteration. In addition to the mass spectrometric approach, a high performance thin layer chromatography method was developed as a fast and economic method for chemical fingerprint analysis of ginkgo samples.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported in part by “Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements” funded by the Food and Drug Administration grant number 1U01FD004246-04, the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58-6408-1-603-04. The authors would like to thank Annette Ford for the extraction of samples.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, 38677, USA

    Bharathi Avula, Satyanarayanaraju Sagi, Yan-Hong Wang, Mei Wang & Ikhlas A. Khan

  2. American Botanical Council, PO Box 144345, Austin, TX, 78714-4345, USA

    Stefan Gafner

  3. American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, PO Box 66809, Scotts Valley, CA, 95067, USA

    Roy Upton

  4. Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS, 38677, USA

    Ikhlas A. Khan

Authors
  1. Bharathi Avula
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  2. Satyanarayanaraju Sagi
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  3. Stefan Gafner
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  4. Roy Upton
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  5. Yan-Hong Wang
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  6. Mei Wang
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  7. Ikhlas A. Khan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ikhlas A. Khan.

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Avula, B., Sagi, S., Gafner, S. et al. Identification of Ginkgo biloba supplements adulteration using high performance thin layer chromatography and ultra high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 407, 7733–7746 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-8938-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-8938-1

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