Estimation of boswellic acids in herbal formulations containing Boswellia serrata extract and comprehensive characterization of secondary metabolites using UPLC-Q-Tof-MSe.

Boswellia serrata is a widely used herb in Indian systems of medicine and is well known for its potential medicinal properties. A chromatographic method was developed for the analysis and quantification of six boswellic acid marker compounds, i.e., keto boswellic acid (1), 3-O-Acetyl 11-keto ß-boswellic acid (2), ɑ-Boswellic acid (3), ß-Boswellic acid (4), 3-O-Acetyl-ɑ-boswellic acid (5) and 3-O-Acetyl-ß-boswellic acid (6) in commercial herbal products containing B. serrata as an ingredient. Combining UPLC with Q-Tof-MS/MS makes the better identification of secondary metabolites and adulterants in the herbal formulations containing B. serrata in rapid time using fragmentation approach than the traditional approaches. In this study quantification of boswellic acids with UPLC-PDA method was performed as per the pharmacopeia guidelines. Furthermore, minor phytochemical constituents were identified and characterized with the help of LC-Q-Tof-MS/MS fragmentation data and various isoforms of boswellic acids and tirucallic acids in B. serrata oleo-gum-resin extract were identified.

Inhibitory potential of important phytochemicals from Pergularia daemia (Forsk.) chiov., on snake venom (Naja naja).

Pergularia daemia (Forsk.) chiov., is a milk weed of Asclepiadaceae family. In the present study ß-sitosterol, ß-amyrin, α-amyrin and lupeol were identified in the leaf by GC-MS. Molecular docking studies were performed to evaluate their activities on phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and l-amino acid oxidase enzymes which constituted a rich source in snake venoms (Naja naja). Snake venom Phospholipase A2 with PDB code 1A3D devoid of co-crystallized ligand was extracted from Protein Data Bank. Using Molegro Virtual Docker two cavities are formed by cocrystallization. l-Amino acid oxidase (PDB code 4E0V) was a receptor model with a co-crystallized ligand FAD. Among the phytochemicals analysed, ß-sitosterol displayed high affinity of binding to the active site regions of phospholipase A2 and l-amino acid oxidase, respectively. The affinity of binding was -125.939 and -157.521 kcal/mole identified by gold scores. α-Amyrin and ß-amyrin had two hydrogen bond interactions with PLA2. Hence this study suggests that ß-sitosterol identified in P. daemia can antagonize PLA2 and LAAO activities and forms a theoretical basis for the folk use of the plant against snake venom.