SECONDARY METABOLITE PROFILING OF ETHYL ACETATE AND WATER FRACTIONS OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF Eugenia Aqueum (BURM. F) ALSTON LEAVES USING UHPLC-Q-ORBITRAP HRMS.
Eugenia aqueum (Burm. F) Alston, which is frequently referred to as a watery rose apple, has demonstrated various biological and pharmacological effects. Bioactive constituents such as phenolics, flavonoids, steroids, and triterpenoids have been identified from the leaves of this plant. However, a comprehensive analysis of its secondary metabolites has not been conducted to date. In this research, advanced liquid chromatography, specifically ultra-highperformance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), was employed alongside high-resolution mass spectrometry that utilizes quadrupole-Orbitrap technology (Q-Orbitrap HRMS) to analyze the metabolites present in the ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions obtained from 96% ethanol extracts of E. aqueum leaves. A total of thirty-three different chemical compounds were provisionally identified by analyzing precise measurements of precursor and fragment ions. The ethyl acetate fraction exhibited a higher number of identified peaks compared to the water fraction. The identified metabolites included phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, fatty acids, lignans, porphyrins, and chlorophyll fragments. These findings offer a comprehensive chemical profile of the watery rose apple, contributing valuable insights into correlating bioactive metabolites with the plant's biological activities.