N. Mulinacci et al., Characterization of Matricaria recutita L-flower extracts by HPLC-MS and HPLC-DAD analysis, CHROMATOGR, 51(5-6), 2000, pp. 301-307
Matricaria recutita L. is a spontaneous herbaceous perennial plant and its
drug is largely used, as an infusion, for its anti-inflammatory properties,
especially for respiratory and gastroenteric tracts. Granular soluble extr
acts of this drug are also used in children's diets.
The purpose of this work was to investigate the polyphenolic content of dif
ferent parts of chamomile flowers. Methanolic extracts were compared and di
rectly analysed by HPLC-DAD and IBLC-MS. The comparison between UV-Vis and
MS spectra, carried out in positive and negative ionisation mode, allows id
entification of all the main polyphenolic compounds present in different pa
rts of the flowers.
The findings reported herein both confirm the presence of several flavonoid
s, described previously, and evidence large amounts of caffeic and ferulic
acid derivatives. No other evidence of the presence of these compounds in c
hamomile flowers has been previously reported.
Quantitative comparison of the flavonoid and phenolic acid derivatives pres
ent in receptacles, ligulate, tubular and total flowers was also performed.