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Plants
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Mass Spectrometry-Based Approaches in Natural Products Research
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Mass Spectrometry-Based Approaches in Natural Products Research

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 941

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Felipe Moura Araújo da Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Apoio Multidisciplinar (CAM), Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, AM, Brazil
Interests: natural products chemistry; mass spectrometry; phytochemistry; analytical instrumentation
Dr. Rita De Cássia Saraiva Nunomura

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Química (DQ), Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, AM, Brazil
Interests: natural products chemistry; organic chemistry; organic synthesis; pharmacology biochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, mass spectrometry-based approaches constitute the primary strategy for rapid advancements in natural products research, as they allow for the dereplication and quantification of bioactive compounds in plants. These compounds, including alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and others, play essential roles in various biological processes and are of great interest across fields such as plant biochemistry, molecular biology, plant biotechnology, food sciences, agriculture, horticulture, and beyond.

This upcoming special issue will focus on currently used mass spectrometry-based strategies in natural products research. These strategies involve normally hyphenated techniques, such as liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which are powerful systems in the search for chemical knowledge about biological samples. Emphasis will be placed on modern strategies based on GC-MS and LC-MS to investigate bioactive compounds in plants. Other analytical approaches are also encouraged, as well as studies investigating samples with promising biological activity.

We invite researchers to contribute articles that explore the use of these analytical techniques in various applications within natural products research, from identifying known metabolites to developing innovative methodologies for complex plant matrix analysis.

This issue provides an excellent opportunity for researchers to share their latest findings and insights, furthering our collective understanding of the potential of mass spectrometry-based approaches in natural products research.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

I look forward to receiving your contributions

Prof. Dr. Felipe Moura Araújo da Silva
Dr. Rita De Cássia Saraiva Nunomura
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • phytochemistry
  • dereplication
  • LC-MS
  • GC-MS

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 613 KiB  
Article
Nutritional Composition, Volatile Profiles, and Biological Evaluation of Honeys from Melipona interrupta and Melipona seminigra from Amazonas State, Brazil
by Emilly J. S. P. de Lima, Carlos V. A. da Silva, Fernanda A. S. Rocha, Aline de M. Rodrigues, Samuel C. Costa, Rebeca S. França, Raiana S. Gurgel, Bárbara N. Batista, Patrícia M. Albuquerque, Waldireny R. Gomes, Hector H. F. Koolen and Giovana A. Bataglion
Plants 2025, 14(14), 2106; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14142106 - 9 Jul 2025
Viewed by 372
Abstract
Honey is a natural product produced by bees from the nectar of plants and has been widely used as a sweetener for centuries. In addition to its traditional use, it is also employed for other purposes due to its biological and nutraceutical properties. [...] Read more.
Honey is a natural product produced by bees from the nectar of plants and has been widely used as a sweetener for centuries. In addition to its traditional use, it is also employed for other purposes due to its biological and nutraceutical properties. Although honey production is mostly associated with bees of the genus Apis, species from other genera, such as Melipona, also produce it, albeit on a smaller scale. The honey produced by these two genera shows significant differences in its composition. Moreover, distinct geographical localizations, which, consequently, have different flora, guide the chemical compositions of these samples. Regarding the Amazon region, the amount of knowledge about the honey samples from Melipona species is still scarce. In this context, the present study aimed to characterize the volatile compositions of honey from Melipona interrupta and Melipona seminigra, as well as from the floral sources available, in addition to evaluating their nutritional aspects, antioxidant activity, and antibacterial activity. The analysis of chemical composition was performed using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH and ABTS assays, while antimicrobial activity was tested against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella enterica, Serratia marcescens, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, and Candida parapsilosis. The results allowed the identification of volatiles present in the honey and floral sources. The samples displayed moderate antioxidant activity and slightly antibacterial activity (MIC) of 75 μg/mL against two bacterial strains tested, demonstrating potential antimicrobial activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry-Based Approaches in Natural Products Research)
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14 pages, 982 KiB  
Article
Botanical Authenticity of Miraruira Sold in the Amazonas State, Brazil, Based on Chemical Profiling Using DI-MS and Chemometric Analyses
by Shelson M. da R. Braga, Felipe M. A. da Silva, Giovana A. Bataglion, Marcia G. A. de Almeida, Larissa O. de Souza, Rebeca dos S. França, Cesar A. S. de Souza, Francinaldo A. da Silva-Filho, Afonso D. L. de Souza, Hector H. F. Koolen and Maria L. B. Pinheiro
Plants 2025, 14(13), 2012; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14132012 - 1 Jul 2025
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Abstract
Miraruira is a medicinal plant-based product (MPBP) that is widely used in the state of Amazonas for the treatment of diabetes, though its botanical identity remains unclear, which raises concerns about authenticity and therapeutic consistency. One solution to this problem is the use [...] Read more.
Miraruira is a medicinal plant-based product (MPBP) that is widely used in the state of Amazonas for the treatment of diabetes, though its botanical identity remains unclear, which raises concerns about authenticity and therapeutic consistency. One solution to this problem is the use of mass spectrometry-based approaches, which have emerged as powerful tools for verifying botanical origin based on chemical composition. Thus, to confirm the botanical authenticity of miraruira, direct-injection mass spectrometry (DI-MS) and chemometric analyses (PCA and HCA) were conducted on methanol fractions of Salacia impressifolia and Connarus ruber, both suspected sources of miraruira, as well as commercial samples obtained in street markets in Manaus, Brazil. Additionally, the hexane extracts of C. ruber and the commercial samples were screened for benzoquinones using DI-MS, as these compounds are recurrent in the genus Connarus. The DI-MS and PCA analyses revealed distinct chemical profiles for each species, and identified mangiferin and epicatechin as chemical markers for S. impressifolia and C. ruber, respectively. Furthermore, PCA demonstrated that all the commercial samples exhibited chemical profiles closely aligned with C. ruber. However, the HCA indicated variability among these samples, suggesting C. ruber or related Connarus species are the primary sources of miraruira. Moreover, embelin, rapanone, and suberonone were identified as the main compounds in the hexane extracts of C. ruber and the commercial products. This study successfully confirmed the botanical authenticity of miraruira, identified key bioactive compounds related to its traditional use in the treatment of diabetes symptoms, and demonstrated the effectiveness of DI-MS as a valuable tool for addressing authenticity issues in MPBPs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mass Spectrometry-Based Approaches in Natural Products Research)
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