Metabolomics:Open Access

Discrimination of the Geographical Origin of Sclerocarya birrea by 1HNMR and LC-MS Based Metabolite Profiling

Abstract

Kwena MC, Jacquees V and Gerhard P

Sclerocarya birrea (S. birrea) is an African tree used traditionally to treat various human ailments. The origin of S. birrea can be determined by its biochemical composition. This study identifies the biochemical composition of S. birrea leaf extracts from 5 provinces within South Africa namely Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, North-West, Gauteng and Mpumalanga by both 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (LCMS), followed by multivariate data analysis. The Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) and Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) from 1HNMR and LC-MS respectively, clearly discriminated between extracts from five provinces. Putatively annotated metabolites including kaempferol, quercetin, gallic acid, sucrose and glutamate contributed to discriminating the geographical origin of S. birrea extracts. These results established biochemical profiles of S. birrea extracts and indicate that the two techniques; NMR and LC-MS can be used in the discrimination of the geographical origin of S. birrea.