Dietary-flavonoid-rich flowers of Rumex nervosus Vahl: Liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry profiling and in vitro anti-inflammatory effects

Rumex nervosus is a plant species found widely in Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to its uses in traditional medicinal, the plant shows various biological activities, such as antiviral, antibacterial, and antioxidant activity. In this study, nine flavonols, six flavones, three flavanones, and one flavanol were characterized from the flowers of R. nervosus using liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry and literature data. Validation data indicated that the determination coefficients (R-2) were >= 0.9914. The limits of detection and quantification were in the ranges of 0.15-1.24 and 0.50-4.13 mg/L, respectively. Recoveries at 10 and 50 mg/L were 71.1-110.2 and 65.4-115.1%, with relative standard deviations of 7.4-40.1 and 2.1-13.0%, respectively. Quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside (10) was the dominant component, contributing 30.8% of total flavonoids (1003.0+/-26.2 mg/kg fresh flower sample), whereas luteolin 6-C-glucoside (3) was the lowest yielding compound (0.1%). The 19 flavonoids identified were characterized for the first time. In vitro anti-inflammatory studies showed that this mixture can suppress the production of inflammatory mediators, including inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, kappa B inhibitor, and interleukin-1 beta, by down-regulating the nuclear factor-kappa B and mitogen-activated protein kinases pathways. The results of this study may provide information for processing R. nervosus as a potential source of functional food.