Search

Omega-3 fatty acids, which consist of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are crucial for enhancing human health. These three omega-3s are regarded as vital dietary nutrients because it cannot synthesize them on its own. Therefore, they must be obtained through dietary sources. On the other hands, there are concerns regarding the quality and quantity of omega-3 in dietary sources and supplements. In this study, 1 H NMR spectroscopy and multivariate analysis were harnessed for non-destructive profiling of fatty acids in commercially available omega-3 supplements and plant-based oils. Results disclosed substantial disparities in omega-3 content from 8 to over 50 %, with some revealing unexpected adulteration. Notably, in one fish oil sample DHA could not be detected indicating the possibility of adulteration. Additionally, the research delineated the fatty acid composition of plant-based oils, emphasizing variations in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) content among flaxseed, chia seed, and walnut oils. Chia seeds emerged as a rich source of ALA (57-65 %mol), while walnuts contained considerable LA (44-53 % mol). The findings emphasize the power of metabolomics as a rapid and affordable tool for finding omega-3 fatty acids content and adulteration in commercial dietary products., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill. var. dulce) and thyme (Zataria multiflora Boiss.) are regarded as the important supplies for pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, and perfume industries. The major components trans-anethole and thymol are represented in fennel and thyme, respectively. The essential oils (EOs) content and the value of their related constituents should be given in strict quality control due to the storage conditions, source, and adulterations. In this study, we compared the validation of quantitative 1 H NMR (qH NMR) method with the gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) to quantify the trans-anethole and thymol in fennel and thyme EOs and their related supplements. The current results showed that the quantification of trans-anethole and thymol by qH NMR method was successfully achieved from their EOs and supplements. All the validation parameters including linearity, robustness, repeatability, and stability were authenticated for thymol and trans-anethole quantification. Similar results were obtained in both qH NMR and conventional GC-FID methods. Therefore, according to the measured values, the qH NMR method was adequate to determine the constituents of the EOs, with the results being roughly comparable to those obtained by GC-FID, with the advantage of being simple, repeatable, rapid (8-10 min, while for GC-FID 55 min) and essential for quality control of commercial samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Ferula ovina (Boiss.) Boiss is one of the most important endemic medicinal plants in Iran, which has three main terpenoid compounds including ferutinin, stylosin and tschimgine. Ferutinin is the strongest natural phytoestrogen that has agonistic activity on estrogen receptors, particularly α-receptors. To determine the amount of ferutinin in F. ovina roots, we firstly used HPLC-UV method. In the HPLC method, the resolution of ferutinin from the two other compounds, stylosin and tshimgine, was poor. Therefore, we decided to use qHNMR method for simultaneous quantification of ferutinin, stylosin and tshimgine in the plant roots. Quantitative 1 H-NMR (qHNMR) was carried out based on the relative ratio of signal integration of each compound [(H-1 for tschimgine (δ H 4.94-5.03), OCH 3 for stylosin (δ H 3.8), and H-9 for ferutinin (δ H 5.58)] to certain amount of the internal standard dimethyl sulfone (DMSO 2 ). The qHNMR method showed good precision (intra-day RSD ≤ 2.31%, inter-day RSD ≤ 2.72%), linearity (in the ranges of 1.3-10.41, 1.2-9.7 and 1.1-9.02 mg/mL with correlation coefficients at 0.9991), repeatability (RSD ≤ 2.99%) and stability (RSD ≤ 2.4%) for the quantification of the compounds. This work confirmed that qHNMR represents a feasible alternative to high-performance liquid chromatography based methods for simultaneous quantification of ingredients in plant extracts., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)