Negative ion 'chip-based' nanospray tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of flavonoids in glandular trichomes of Lychnophora ericoides Mart. (Asteraceae)

This paper reports a method for the analysis of secondary metabolites stored in glandular trichomes, employing negative ion ‘chip‐based’ nanospray tandem mass spectrometry. The analyses of glandular trichomes from Lychnophora ericoides, a plant endemic to the Brazilian ‘cerrado’ and used in traditional medicine as an anti‐inflammatory and analgesic agent, led to the identification of five flavonoids (chrysin, pinocembrin, pinostrobin, pinobanksin and 3‐O‐acetylpinobanksin) by direct infusion of the extracts of glandular trichomes into the nanospray ionisation source. All the flavonoids have no oxidation at ring B, which resulted in a modification of the fragmentation pathways compared with that of the oxidised 3,4‐dihydroflavonoids already described in the literature. The absence of the anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant di‐C‐glucosylflavone vicenin‐2, or any other flavonoid glycosides, in the glandular trichomes was also demonstrated. The use of the ‘chip‐based’ nanospray QqTOF apparatus is a new fast and useful tool for the identification of secondary metabolites stored in the glandular trichomes, which can be useful for chemotaxonomic studies based on metabolites from glandular trichomes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.