Phytoecdysteroid Profiling of Silene vulgaris by UPLC-ESI-MS

Silene vulgaris is a wild edible plant consumed in both raw as well as cooked forms in several parts of Europe. The phytoconstituents of Silene species include phytoecdysteroids, triterpenoidal saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids and phenolics. Silene vulgaris is a relatively unexplored species and the chemical profiling of this plant has not been attempted so far. Hence the UPLC-ESI-MS approach was applied to the extracts of flowers, leaves and ischolar_mains of S. vulgaris for the profiling of phytoecdysteroids. The relative distribution of these compounds varied between flowers and leaves; however, the qualitative composition was similar. Only traces of phytoecdysteroids were present in the ischolar_mains. The aglycones, sugars and other moieties were determined on the basis of ESI-MS. A total of eight previously known phytoecdysteroids were identified. Partial characterization of eight other phytoecdysteroids was also attempted.