Identification and Determination of Fructooligosaccharides in Snow Chrysanthemum (Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.)

Objective: Small molecules in snow chrysanthemum such as flavonoids, phenolic compounds and amino acids have been extensively investigated. No study to date has focused on water-soluble oligosaccharides. The objective of this study is identification and determination of water-soluble oligosaccharides in snow chrysanthemum. Methods: The oligosaccharides in snow chrysanthemum were identified by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) combined MS library and methylation analysis for the first time. Subsequently the oligosaccharides were determined by high performance liquid chromatography with a charged aerosol detector (HPLC-CAD). Results: The oligosaccharides in snow chrysanthemum were identified as inulin-type fructooligosaccharides (FOS). The yield of FOS (DP3 similar to DP13) in the first extraction was over 97.6%. The RSDs of repeatability in three sample amount levels (0.08 g, 0.1 g, 0.12 g) are lower than 4.8% and the RSDs of stability are less than 3.5%. The recoveries of FOS (DP3 similar to 13) were ranging from 96.9% to 105.6%. The contents of FOS (DP3 similar to DP13) in flowers of snow chrysanthemum from different regions of China were greatly variant. Conclusion: This is the first time to identify and quantify FOS in snow chrysanthemum which is helpful for its performance in the in the fields of biomedical, agriculture and functional food industry as well as development of the quality control methods. In addition, the identification approach developed in this work can also be used for screening potential natural sources containing FOS..