Identification of chemical constituents in pomegranate seeds based on ultra-high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Pomegranate seeds are a potential source of bioactive compounds. Nonetheless, most pomegranate seeds are discarded in the food processing industry, likely due to the lack of convincing data on their component analysis. MethodsTo reveal the main chemical constituents of pomegranate seeds, a reliable and sensitive method based on ultra-high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MS) was developed. A time-dependent MSE data acquisition mode was applied to acquire the mass spectrometric data. The chemical constituents were identified by an automatic retrieval of a traditional Chinese medicine library and relevant literature. ResultsA total number of 59 compounds, including fatty acids, sterols, vitamins, cerebrosides, phospholipids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, and others, were tentatively identified. Their possible fragmentation pathways and characteristic ions were proposed and elucidated. ConclusionsThe findings of this study, along with the developed methodology, could provide a reference for basic research on the pharmacodynamic substances of pomegranate seeds and shed light on their potential nutritional and therapeutic applications in the future.