Metabolic fingerprinting of different populations of Phyllanthus niruri L. from Punjab using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI–MS)

There is growing interest of healthcare and food industry in ingredients of plant origin as they are potent sources of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticancer agents. In the present work different extracts of Phyllanthus niruri L. from various regions of Punjab were screened for their phenolic profiles and antioxidant properties. Crude extracts obtained by solid–liquid extraction with different solvents were tested for total anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenolic content, and free radical scavenging activity. Out of all the solvents used, methanol was regarded as best to be used for soxhlet extraction of plant metabolites, as it provided highest phenolic, flavonoid, antioxidant, and anthocyanin contents. Similarly, ESI–MS was employed to obtain mass profiles of phenolic and other metabolites present in various P. niruri populations. Out of 72 compounds detected, 51 are reported for the first time in P. niruri L. Similarly, different populations of P. niruri were discriminated through metabolic fingerprinting using ESI–MS.