Received: 25 November 2019 Revised: 17 February 2020 Accepted: 17 February 2020 DOI: 10.1002/pca.2930 RESEARCH ARTICLE Small-scale analysis of phytoecdysteroids in seeds by HPLC- DAD-MS for the identification and quantification of specific analogues, dereplication and chemotaxonomy Laurence Dinan1 | Christine Balducci1 | Louis Guibout1 | René Lafont1,2 1Biophytis, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France Abstract 2Paris-Seine Biology Institute (BIOSIPE), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France Introduction: Phytoecdysteroids are analogues of arthropod steroids occurring in plants. They contribute to invertebrate deterrence. A wide diversity of ecdysteroids Correspondence Laurie Dinan, Biophytis, Sorbonne Université, occurs in phytoecdysteroid-containing plant species, sometimes in high amounts. Campus P & M Curie, 4 place Jussieu, Paris Ecdysteroids demonstrate potentially useful pharmaceutical actions in mammals. 7505, France. Email:
[email protected] Objectives: Establish reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC-MS/MS) and RP-HPLC-DAD-MS (diode array Funding information Biophytis, Paris, France; FAER (Dorchester, detector mass spectrometry) methods for the separation, identification and quantifi- UK) cation of ecdysteroids to screen for species containing significant amounts of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) and other useful ecdysteroids. Materials and methods: Micro-extracts of seed samples (ca. 30 mg) in 50% ethanol were subjected to RP-SPE (solid-phase extraction) purification prior to analysis by RP-HPLC-MS/MS and RP-HPLC-DAD-MS. The method was initially applied to genera (Amaranthus, Centaurea, Lychnis, Ourisia, Serratula, Silene and Trollius) where high-accumulating species had been previously encountered. Seeds of 160 randomly selected species, many of which have not previ- ously been assessed, were then analysed.