CHROMATOGRAPHIC FINGERPRINT DEVELOPMENT FOR THE DETECTION OF TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS IN PLANT FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) characterized by the inability to achieve or maintain erection during sexual activity, is a common disorder occurring in men. ED has many treatment options, either by medication or by improving the psychosocial well-being of a man. However, the embarrassment associated with consulting healthcare providers may be the reason for the shift towards easily procurable herbal supplements. Herbal supplements have seen an increas-ing demand in the western countries and are associated to be synonymous with ‘safe’. However, the latter is not always the case. The said supplements can be adulterated or fraudulent by ex-changed, which can lead to adverse effects or toxicity in the consumer. Tribulus terrestris (TT), subject of this thesis, is a plant that is frequently present in sexual enhancing herbal food sup-plements sold to treat ED. Aim: The study developed a screening approach for TT using Ultra High Pressure Liquid Chro-matography- Diode-Array detector (UHPLC–DAD) and evaluated the presence of TT in 20 unknown illegal plant food supplements by using the developed fingerprinting method. Method: UHPLC-DAD was used to obtain chromatographic fingerprints. The pure plant extract was screened and optimized to develop a suitable method to obtain a specific fingerprint. The suitability of the method was evaluated by preparing triturations of TT with herbal matrices in varying ratios (½, ⅕, 1/10, 1/15, ½0). Twenty unknown samples were screened for TT and further confirmation was carried out by UH¨PLC-mass spectrometry Results and conclusion: It was found and confirmed that 7 unknown samples showed the pres-ence of TT and more than half of it were confirmed for adulteration, i.e. adding TT without indication on the packaging.