Abstract
For quantitative analysis, contents of the selected three phenolic compounds and 17 minerals were determined in seven tea samples, i.e., infusions prepared on a traditional way from the dried aerial parts (herba) of St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) found in the market, or collected from few locations in the Eastern and Southeastern Serbia. Four of them were commercially available in the markets: two in the bulk and two in filter bags. Phenolic and mineral contents were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector and inductively plasma optical emission spectrometry methods, respectively. The used instrument methods proved to be useful tools for analysis of St. John’s wort products. Main quantified phenolics (chlorogenic acid as phenolic acid, rutin and hyperoside as flavonols), as compounds with well-known biological activities, can contribute to a better quality of St. John’s wort teas from Serbia origin. Concentrations of the flavonols, rutin and hyperoside, in infusions samples were the highest, in the ranges of 13.1–79.6 mg/dm3 and 15.1–90.0 mg/dm3, respectively. Chlorogenic acid content was not much varied through the samples (2.6–3.6 mg/dm3). Among the macroelements, the potassium concentration (5868.9–10,608.5 μg/g) was the highest in all samples, and the concentration is in the order: K > P > Ca > Mg > Na. On the other hand, microelements concentrations follow the order: Zn > Mn > Cu. Among the analyzed toxic heavy metals, Cd was not detected in any of the samples, Pb detected only in two and Ba detected in small amounts in all samples.
Graphic Abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.
Code availability
Not applicable.
Notes
Hypericins and hyperforins were consciously excluded from the study due to preliminary experiments in which they have been poorly or not detected (probably as a consequence of water insolubility and light sensitivity) by any method used for instrumentation and chromatographic conditions optimization.
References
Agapouda A, Booker A, Kiss T, Hohmann J, Heinrich M, Csupor D (2019) Quality control of Hypericum perforatum L. analytical challenges and recent progress. J Pharm Pharmacol 71:15–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/jphp.12711
Andrade DF, Pereira-Filho ER, Konieczynski P (2017) Comparison of ICP OES and LIBS analysis of medicinal herbs rich in flavonoids from eastern Europe. J Braz Chem Soc 28(5):838–847
Ang CYW, Cui Y, Chang HC, Luo W, Heinze TM (2002) Determination of St. John’s wort components in dietary supplements and functional foods by liquid chromatography. J AOAC Int 85(6):1360–1369. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaoac/85.6.1360
Arsić I (2016) Preparation and characterization of St. John’s wort herb extracts using olive, sunflower and palm oils. Acta Fac Med Naiss 33(2):119–126. https://doi.org/10.1515/afmnai-2016-0013
Beattie JH, Peace HS (1993) The influence of a low-boron diet and boron supplementation on bone, major mineral and sex steroid metabolism in postmenopausal women. Briti J Nutrit 69(03):871–884. https://doi.org/10.1079/BJN19930087
Bonari G, Monaci F, Nannoni F, Angiolini C, Protano G (2019) Trace element uptake and accumulation in the medicinal herb Hypericum perforatum L. across different geolithological settings. Biolo Trace Elem Res 189(1):267–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1453-4
Çirak C, Radusienë J, Karabük BS, Janulis V, Ivanauskas L (2007) Variation of bioactive compounds in Hypericum perforatum growing in Turkey during its phenological cycle. J Integr Plant Biol 49(5):615–620. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1672-9072.2007.00479.x
de Santos Júnior AF, Matos RA, Andrade EMJ, dos Santos WNL, Magalhães HIF, Costa FN, das Graças M, Korn A, (2017) Multielement determination of macro and micro contents in medicinal plants and phytomedicines from Brazil by ICP OES. J Braz Chem Soc 28(2):376–384. https://doi.org/10.5935/0103-5053.20160187
Derun EM, Eslek Z, Piskin S (2013) Extraction and Analysis of Hypericum perforatum L. from Turkey. Int J Chem Mol Eng 7(7):495–499. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1086879
Filippini R, Piovan A, Borsarini A, Caniato R (2010) Study of dynamic accumulation of secondary metabolites in three subspecies of Hypericum perforatum. Fitoterapia 81:115–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fitote.2009.08.002
Gardea-Torresdey JL, Peralt-Videa JR, de la Rosa G, Parsons JG (2005) Phytoremediation of heavy metals and study of the metal coordination by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Coord Chem Rev 249:1797–1810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2005.01.001
Germ M, Stibilj V, Kreft S, Gaberščik A, Kreft I (2010) Flavonoid, tannin and hypericin concentrations in the leaves of St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) are affected by UV-B radiation levels. Food Chem 122:471–474
Jüngerliemk G, Nahrstedt A (2002) Phenolic compounds from Hypericum perforatum. Planta Med 68:89–91. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2002-20053
Kazusaki M, Ueda S, Takeuchi N, Ohgami Y (2012) Validation of analytical procedures by high−performance liquid chromatography for pharmaceutical analysis. Chromatography 33(2):65–73. https://doi.org/10.15583/jpchrom.2012.005
Kelebek H, Sendivik O, Selli S (2019) LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS-based phenolic profiling of St John’s wort teas and their antioxidant activity: Eliciting infusion induced changes. J Liq Chromatogr RT 42(1–2):9–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826076.2019.1568257
Koyu H, Haznedaroglu MZ (2015) Investigation of impact of storage conditions on Hypericum perforatum L. dried total extract. J Food Drug Anal 23:545–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfda.2015.04.002
Kumar V, Sharma A, Dhunna G, Chawla A, Bhardwaj R, Thukral AK (2017) A tabulated review on distribution of heavy metals in various plants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:2210–2260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7747-1
Masarovičová E, Kráĭová K, Kummerová M (2010) Principles of classification of medicinal plants as hyperaccumulators or excluders. Acta Physiol Plant 32:823–829. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-010-0474-1
Mihaljev Ž, Živkov-Baloš M, Čupić Ž, Jakšić S (2014) Levels of some microelements and essential heavy metals in herbal teas in Serbia. Acta Pol Pharm 71(3) 385–391 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25265817
Orčić DZ, Mimica-Dukić NM, Franciskovic MM, Petrović SS, Jovin ED (2011) Antioxidant activity relationship of phenolic compounds in Hypericum perforatum L. Chem Cent J 5(34):1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-153X-5-34
Orhan IE, Kartal M (2015) LC-DAD-MS-Assisted quantification of marker compounds in Hypericum perforatum L (St John’s wort) and its antioxidant activity. Turk J Pharm Sci 12(3):279–286
Owen JD, Evans SJ, Guirguis A, Kellett K, Stair JL (2019) Method development for the determination of elements in Hypericum perforatum L. (St John’s wort) herb and preparations using inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectroscopy and microwave digestion. J Pharm Pharmacol 71:38–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/jphp.12742
Pavlova D, Karadjova I, Krasteva I (2015) Essential and toxic element concentrations in Hypericum perforatum. Aust J Bot 63(2):152–158. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT14260
Petrović SM, Savić SR, Zvezdanović JB, Mladenović-Ranisavljević I, Cvetković DJ, Cvetanović AD (2020) Benefits and risks of commercially available coffee beverages from Western Balkan. Chem Pap 74(3):847–857. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-019-00916-5
Prasad MNV, Freitas HMO (2003) Metal hyperaccumulation in plants - biodiversity prospecting for phytoremediation technology. Electron J Biotechnol 6:285–321
Sentkowska A, Biesaga M, Pyrzynska K (2016) Effects of brewing process on phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of herbs. Food Sci Biotechnol 25(4):965–970. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-016-0157-9
Smelcerovic A, Spiteller M (2006) Phytochemical analysis of nine Hypericum L. species from Serbia and the F.Y.R. Macedonia. Pharmazie 61:251–252 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16599273
Soni RP, Katoch M, Kumar A, Ladohiya R, Verma P (2015) Tea: Production, composition, consumption and its potential an antioxidant and antimicrobial agent. Intl J Food Ferment Technol 5(2):95–106. https://doi.org/10.5958/2277-9396.2016.00002.7
Temizel KE (2015) Estimation of the phenolics content of St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) grown under different water and salt levels based on reflectance spectroscopy. Kuwait J Sci 42(3):210–222
Tokalıoğlu Ş (2012) Determination of trace elements in commonly consumed medicinal herbs by ICP-MS and multivariate analysis. Food Chem 134:2504–2508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.04.093
Veljkovic D, Vučković GN (2010) Minerals in the nutrition. Chem Rev 51:14–19 (in Serbian)
Veljkovic JN, Pavlović AN, Mitić SS, Tošić SB, Stojanović GS, Kaličanin BM, Stanković DM, Stojković MB, Mitić MN, Brcanović JM (2013) Evaluation of individual phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties of black, green, herbal and fruit tea infusions consumed in Serbia: spectrophotometrical and electrochemical approaches. J Food Nutr Res 52(1):12–24
Veljković JN, Pavlović AN, Brcanović JM, Mitić SS, Tošić SB, Mitić MN (2016) Differentiation of black, green, herbal and fruit tea infusions based on multi-element analysis using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Chem Pap 70(4):488–494. https://doi.org/10.1515/chempap-2015-0215
Verma V, Smelcerovic A, Zuehlke S, Hussain MA, Ahmad SM, Ziebach T, Qazia GN, Spiteller M (2008) Phenolic constituents and genetic profile of Hypericum perforatum L. from India. Biochem Syst Ecol 36:201–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bse.2007.09.003
Wang R, Yang N, Sun H (2011) Bismuth: Environmental pollution and health effects. In: Nriagu JO (ed) Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, 2nd edn, updated 2019, Elsevier, pp 414–420 https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11870-6
Zdunic G, Godjevac D, Savikin K, Petrovic S (2017) Comparative analysis of phenolic compounds in seven Hypericum species and their antioxidant properties. Nat Prod Commun 12(11):1805–1811. https://doi.org/10.1177/1934578X1701201140
Zeliou K, Kontaxis NI, Margianni E, Petrou C, Lamari FN (2017) Optimized and validated HPLC analysis of St John’s wort extract and final products by simultaneous determination of major ingredients. J Chromatogr Sci 55(8):805–812. https://doi.org/10.1093/chromsci/bmx040
Žugić A, Ðorđević S, Arsić I, Marković G, Živković J, Jovanović S, Tadić V (2014) Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds in 10 selected herbs from Vrujci Spa, Serbia. Ind Crop Prod 52:519–527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2013.11.027
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Contract No. 451-03-68/2020-14/200133).
Funding
Not applicable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by AL and JZ. HPLC analysis and results interpretation were performed by JZ, JS, DC and LS. ICP-OES analysis and interpretation of the corresponding results were performed by SP, SS and JZ. All authors read and approved the final manuscript written by JZ.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Ethics approval
Not applicable.
Consent to participate
All the authors are consent to participate.
Consent for publication
All the authors are consent to publication.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zvezdanović, J., Petrović, S., Savić, S. et al. Phenolics and mineral content in St. John’s wort infusions from Serbia origin: An HPLC and ICP-OES study. Chem. Pap. 75, 2807–2817 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-021-01521-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-021-01521-1