OPTIMIZATION OF THE HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACT OF EPILOBIUM ANGUSTIFOLIUM L. AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION THROUGH UHPLCMS/ MS ANALYSIS

Epilobium angustifolium L. is a plant used in traditional medicine for the treatment of many disorders and ailments. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that the extracts obtained from the aerial parts of E. angustifolium possess a broad range of pharmacological and therapeutic effects, including antioxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, mainly ascribed to flavonoids and ellagitannins (i.e oenothein B). The present study aimed to optimize the extraction method to obtain a hydroalcoholic extract rich in polyphenols through a systematic method consisting in the Design of Experiments (DoE). In addition, the second aim of this investigation was to determine the metabolic profile of the optimized E. angustifolium hydroalcoholic extract by using the latest generation of chromatography involving the use of Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with a Quadrupole orbitrap Linear Trap (LTQ orbitrap), which allows for the detection of the compounds of interest at very low concentrations. This study led to the determination of the best extraction conditions with the identification of the effect of solvent, temperature, pH and duration on extraction process. The analysis of the optimized hydroalcoholic extract led to the identification of 43 compounds, including sugars, organic acids, non-flavonoids and flavonoids, both aglycones and glycosylated compounds.