Chromatographic fingerprinting and direct characterization of selected secondary metabolites in <i>Savignya parviflora</i> from Saudi Arabia

In this investigation, direct analysis in real-time of flight-mass spectrometry (DART-ToF-MS) was employed as a high-resolution technique to analyze the total extract samples, along with the fresh plant components of
Savignya parviflora
L., without requiring sample preparation. This method is tentatively used to detect 13 compounds. Additionally, hexane and methanol were used to separate the total plant extract into its non-polar and polar components, respectively. Both extracts were examined using normal and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) modes, while the hexane extract was examined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Twelve components were successfully detected from the hexane extract based on GC spectra. The plant extract’s chromatographic profile reveals the presence of significant compounds reported to exhibit biological activity like chrysin and scopoletin. Method validation was performed using recovery studies at different concentration levels. Under ideal circumstances, a quantitative analysis of the detected compounds was carried out using normal HPLC-UV. The methods were confirmed in linear calibration curves ranging from 1 to 100 μg/mL with detection limits of 0.072 and 0.422 μg/mL, and selected compounds (chrysin and scopoletin) were quantitatively determined using HPLC-UV. Chrysin and scopoletin showed average concentrations of 5.72 and 69.08 µg/g, respectively, while the method accuracy was confirmed by recovery values ranging from 81.85% to 88.56%. The findings indicate that the proposed techniques are complementary and applicable for the routine analysis of the detected phytochemicals in the plant extract.