Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography – high-resolution mass spectrometry profiling and hepatoprotective activity of purified saponin and flavonoid fractions from the aerial parts of wild spinach (Chenopodium bonus-henricus L.)

An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography – high-resolution mass spectrometry profiling method was used for a comprehensive study of flavonoid and saponin-rich fractions from the aerial parts of wild spinach (Chenopodium bonus-henricus L.). Thirty-six compounds, respectively, 22 saponins of eight sapogenins (phytolaccagenin, bayogenin, medicagenic acid, 2β-hydroxygypsogenin, 2β-hydroxyoleanoic acid, 2-hydroxy-30-nor-gypsogenin, 2-hydroxyakebonic acid, and akebonic acid) together with 12 flavonoid glycosides of 6-methoxykaempferol, isorhamnetin, patuletin, spinacetin as well as two ecdysteroids (20-hydroxyecdysone and polypodine B) were detected. The occurrence of sapogenins 2-hydroxy-30-nor-gypsogenin, 2-hydroxyakebonic acid, and akebonic acid in the Chenopodium genus is reported here for the first time. The flavonoid and saponin-rich fractions showed in vitro hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity comparable to those of flavonoid complex silymarin (60 μg/mL) in a model of metabolic bioactivation, induced by CCl4. All tested fractions, compared to silymarin, significantly reduced the cellular damage caused by CCl4 in rat hepatocytes, preserved cell viability and GSH level, decreased LDH leakage, and reduced lipid damage. The results showed that saponin-rich fractions F3A and F3B possessed better hepatoprotective activity than flavonoid-rich fractions (F2A and F2B). The most active was fraction F3B and this is probably due to the synergism between the saponins and some acylated flavonol glycosides found there.