Chemical profiling of Oxalis species growing wild in Egypt using HRLC/MS Spectrometry

Abstract

Three medicinally promising Oxalis species, namely O. pes-caprae, O. corymbosa & O. latifolia were collected from Egyptian flora and their methanolic extracts were subjected to LC-QTOF-MS analysis to annotate their chemical profiles. Subsequently, 50 compounds belonging to various chemical classes were identified and characterized, of which 34 compounds were first reported from Oxalis L.. Moreover, five flavone compounds were separated and identified from O. pes-caprae; their structures were elucidated using acid hydrolysis, UV/vis, 1H-NMR, and HR-ESI-MS. The chemotaxonomic relationship of the studied species was evaluated and the extracted data were statistically analyzed and classified Oxalis sp. into two distinct clusters. Each cluster was characterized by special chemical features that helped in distinguishing between them.