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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jpba

Quantication of 4 -geranyloxyferulic acid (GOFA) in honey samples

of different origin by validated RP-HPLC-UV method
Salvatore Genovese, Vito Alessandro Taddeo, Serena Fiorito, Francesco Epifano
Dipartimento di Farmacia, University G. dAnnunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Via dei Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti Scalo, CH, Italy

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 6 August 2015
Received in revised form
14 September 2015
Accepted 15 September 2015
Available online xxx
Keywords:
Cancer chemoprevention
Diet
Geranyloxyferulic acid
Honey
Oxyprenylated secondary metabolites
Prenyloxyphenylpropanoids

a b s t r a c t
Natural honey has been employed as a nutraceutical agent with benets and therapeutic promises for
humans for many centuries. It has been largely used as food and medicine by all generations, traditions,
and civilizations, both ancient and modern. Several chemicals having benecial effects for human health
have been reported as components of natural honey and these include sugars, organic acids, aminoacids,
minerals, and vitamins. Also some important phytochemicals have been described and these comprise
tannins, avonoids, terpenes, saponins, and alkaloids. In this note it is described the successful application
of a RP HPLC-UVvis method for the separation and quantication of 4 -geranyloxyferulic acid (GOFA)
in four honey samples of different origin. Concentration values showed a great variation between the
four samples tested, being chestnut honey the one richest in GOFA (7.87 mg/g). The ndings described
herein represent the rst example reported in the literature of the characterization of an oxyprenylated
phenylpropanoid in honey.
2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In recent years much attention has been dedicated to cancer
chemoprevention adopting a correct and suitable lifestyle [1]. In
this context food supply (e.g. consumption of fruits, vegetables, and
in general of food rich in antioxidants) has been seen to play a pivotal role [2]. Honey intake was found to be benecial in dietary
feeding chemoprevention of gastrointestinal cancers [3], leukemia
[4], renal carcinoma [5], and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma [6]. The cancer chemopreventive effect by honey has been largely attributed to
its high content of polyphenols [4,6,7].
As a continuation of studies aimed to reveal the presence of
naturally occurring dietary feeding cancer chemopreventive phytochemicals in widely consumed food, it is reported herein a validated
HPLC/UVvis method for the quantication of 4 -geranyloxyferulic
acid (designated with the acronym GOFA) (1), in four honey samples of different origin, namely forest honey, acacia honey, orange
honey, and chestnut honey.
The title oxyprenylated secondary metabolite has recently
demonstrated great potentialities as a pharmacologically active
agent in terms of anti-inammatory, cancer chemopreventive, and

Corresponding author. Fax: +39 8713554912.

E-mail address: francesco.epifano@unich.it (F. Epifano).

neuroprotective activities. The phytochemical and pharmacological properties of GOFA have been recently reviewed [8,9].
2. Materials and methods
Honey samples were purchased from beekeepers of Marche
region (Italy). GOFA has been synthesized as already reported and
its purity (>98.6%) assessed by GC/MS and 1 H and 13 C NMR [10].
Methanol (HPLC-grade) was purchased from Carlo Erba (Milan,
Italy) and used without further purication. Double-distilled water
was obtained by a Millipore Milli-Q Plus Waters treatment system
(Millipore Bedford Corp., Bedford, MA, USA). Solid phase extractions were carried out by Sep-Pak Vac 1 cc (100 mg) C18 cartridges
(Waters, Milford, MA, USA) using the same experimental conditions
as previously reported [11]. HPLC analyses were performed using a
Waters liquid chromatograph equipped with a model 600 solvent
pump and a 2996 photodiode array detector. Empower v.2 Software
(Waters Spa, Milford Massachusetts, USA) was used for data acquisition. A C18 reversed-phase packing column (GraceSmart RP18,
4.6 150 mm, 5 m; Grace, Deereld, IL, USA) was employed for
the separation. The column was thermostatated at 25 2 C using
a Jetstream2 Plus column oven. The UVvis acquisition wavelength
was set in the range of 200600 nm. Analogue output channel A
was set at wavelength 310 nm with a bandwidth of 9.6 nm. The
qualitative analyses were achieved at a wavelength of 288 nm.
The injection volume was 20 L. The mobile phase was directly

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2015.09.018
0731-7085/ 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: S. Genovese, et al., Quantication of 4 -geranyloxyferulic acid (GOFA) in honey samples of different
origin by validated RP-HPLC-UV method, J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2015.09.018

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Table 1
Gradient elution prole for HPLC analyses of honey samples.
Time (min)

%A

0
1
30
33
40

90
90
10
0
90

%B
10
10
90
100
10

on-line degassed by using a Degassex, mod. DG-4400 apparatus

(Phenomenex, Torrance, CA, USA). Mobile phase composition consisted in double distilled water + triuoroacetic acid 0.04% (solvent
A) and acetonitrile + triuoroacetic acid 0.04% (solvent B) at a ow
rate of 1.0 mL/min following a gradient elution program as reported
in Table 1. Column re-equilibration was achieved in 7.0 min using
the initial composition of the mobile phase used for the analyte
separation.
Sample solutions were centrifuged and the supernatant was
directly injected into the HPLC-UVvis system. Stock solutions of
GOFA were prepared by dissolving the powder in acetonitrile at r.t.
to provide an initial concentration of 1 mM and stored in aliquots at
20 C in amber glass tubes. Working standard solutions were then
obtained by appropriately diluting the stock solutions to obtain
concentration values in the range 0.550 g/mL. These latter were
also stored at 20 C in amber glass tubes for a period not longer
than 4 weeks. Separate solutions were used to prepare calibration
standards and quality control (QC) samples. Calibration curves have
been obtained from the mean values of n = 3 measures in 13 points.
The same statistical test as previously described was used to investigate the signicance of the linear t employed for calibration [12].
HPLC solutions from food matrices were prepared by adding 1 mg
of each natural honey sample in 1 mL of acetonitrile. The resulting
mixtures were let to stand overnight at room temperature, then
were centrifuged and the supernatant separated. Aliquots of 20 L
from these solutions were then used for the HPLC analysis.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. HPLC parameters
Under the experimental analytical conditions described below,
the mean retention time recorded for GOFA was 25.8 0.2 min
(R.S.D.% = 2.8) The HPLC prole and LC/MS structural assignment
of peak related to the external standard obtained by chemical
synthesis was found to fully match those previously reported for
the same compound obtained using the same experimental conditions [10]. Conditions set for column purge and re-equilibration
ensured stability for column pressure and chromatogram background. The calculated capacity factor (k ) for GOFA was 3.96. The
dead retention time, calculated with uracile, was 1.83 min. Limit
of detection (LOD) was calculated by measuring standard to noise
(S/N) values obtained in the mobile phase spiked at 0.2 g/mL
level and extrapolation of the corresponding values to S/N = 3. The
calibration curves showed a good linearity in the concentration
range 0.550.0 g/mL (r2 = 0.9977). The back-calculated calibration standard points showed R.S.D. percentage values ranging from
1.9% to 6.0%. The differences in percentage between the standard concentrations calculated from the calibration curves and
the theoretical ones ranged from 12.2% to 2.2%. The accuracy
and precision results for GOFA have been obtained analyzing QC
samples prepared at three different concentration levels (2.5, 20,
and 45 g/mL). Bias values ranged from 3.0% to 4.4%. Limit of
quantication (LOQ) was evaluated according to the guidance for
industry on the validation of bioanalytical methods [13], as the lowest analyte concentration corresponding to a response at least 10

Fig. 1. Structure of GOFA.

times higher than blank response and that can be determined with
80120% accuracy and 20% precision. The back-calculated concentration value, obtained from calibration curves, allowed to assess
0.5 g/mL as the validated LOQ. All weighting factors consisted in
1/x2 values. The mean imprecision imprecisions (CVs) of the retention times were 0.5% with no statistical differences compared with
the imprecision for the normalized retention times of the standard.
As an explicative example, we report in Fig. 1 the HPLC prole of the
extract solution obtained from chestnut honey (in which the peak
of GOFA has a retention time of 25.52 min). The structural assignment of this diagnostic peak was carried out by LCMS as depicted
above (Fig. 2).
3.2. Quantication of GOFA in natural honey samples
Honey represents a very complex natural matrix from an analytical point of view. It has been seen to contain sugars, aminoacids,
and minerals as the most abundant component, but also a wide
range of minor compounds many of which are represented by
polyphenols (e.g. phenolic acids and avonoids). To this concern
several analytical methodologies (mainly HPLC and electrophoresis) have been developed for the qualitative and quantitative
determination of such natural products. A survey of the literature
in this context have been made by Pyrzynska and Biesaga in 2009
[14].
The one described herein represents the rst example reported
in the literature about the characterization of an oxyprenylated
phenylpropanoid in honey samples. GOFA has been isolated for the
rst time in 1966 from the bark extracts of Acronychia baueri Schott,
an Australian tree (Rutaceae) [15]. In very recent years the presence
of GOFA was also disclosed in Citrus fruits [11,16]. Such a ferulic
acid derivative exhibited anti-inammatory and dietary feeding
colon cancer chemopreventive effects in rats and other effects
closely related to cancer pathogenesis [1719]. Results about the
concentration of GOFA in the four natural honey samples under
investigation are reported in Table 2 and expressed as mg/g of
honey SD.
Data reported in Table 2 show that chestnut honey contains the
highest concentrations of GOFA (7.87 0.24 mg/g of honey) while
acacia honey has the less one (0.013 0.002 mg/g). A total recovery
of the standard analyte strictly more than 100% was recorded for
each honey sample.
It is noteworthy to underline how analysis of the selected four
honey samples in all cases under the same experimental conditions as above provided no signicant results in terms of content of
other common and widespread oxyprenylated phenylpropanoids,
Table 2
GOFA concentration values in chestnut, forest, acacia, and orange honeys expressed
as mg/g SD.
Honey sample

GOFA (mg/g SD)a

Chestnut
Forest
Acacia
Orange

7.87
5.36
0.013
1.29

0.24
0.12
0.002
0.05

R.S.D. (%)
3.0
3.9
2.9
2.1

Data are reported as mean SD (n = 10).

Please cite this article in press as: S. Genovese, et al., Quantication of 4 -geranyloxyferulic acid (GOFA) in honey samples of different
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Fig. 2. HPLC prole of chestnut honey extract showing the presence of GOFA at Rt = 25.52.

like coumarins, other ferulic acid derivatives (e.g. boropinic acid

having a 3,3-dimethylallyl side chain instead of a geranyl one in
position 4), or cinnamaldehydes, being all not detected or having
concentration values under the LOQ.
The presence of a prenylated metabolite in chestnut and orange
honeys may reect the fact that prenylation of phenylpropanoids
cores is a typical enzymatic activity of Castanea [20] and Citrus genera [11], while the very low concentration in acacia honey may be
the consequence of a relatively low content of GOFA precursor ferulic acid in robinia plants, Robinia pseudoacacia L., the pollen of
which is the main natural source to obtain acacia honey [21].
Natural honeys are nowadays greatly taken into consideration
for their commercial, feed, and nutraceutical values. As stated
above, they do represent a valuable source of several macro- and
micronutrients, as well as of a wide range of phytochemicals, all
contributing to a healthy diet. Witnessing its importance as food,
production, and consumption of natural honeys largely increased
during the last decade. As a parallelism in the same period a huge
numbers of studies and reports about benecial properties of honey
for humans and animals have been cited in the literature [22], especially in terms of cancer chemoprevention. In this context very
recently chestnut honey has been found to potentiate the cytotoxic
effects of extracts of several medicinal plants as a results of a synergism of action [23], and forest honey was seen to be effective on oral
squamous cell carcinoma and osteosarcoma cell line [24]. Results
described in the present investigation may largely contribute to
enhance the consideration of natural honeys as effective epidemiological means for a valuable prevention strategy of socially and
economically severe diseases like cancer, inammatory-based syndromes and associated disorders. The insofar observed benecial
effects of honey feeding have been mainly attributed to its high
content of carbohydrates, aminoacids, vitamins, minerals and to
phytochemicals like avonoids, phenolic acids and their esters,
and related secondary metabolites. The ndings described in the
present study indicates that GOFA may be effectively regarded
as an additional component of the nutraceutical pool of natural
honeys. For what concerns the observed cancer chemopreventive
and related benecial effects of honey feeding, GOFA may act in
a synergistic way with already reported nutraceuticals and phytochemicals, like avonoids and phenolic acids and their esters.
Such potential synergies surely deserve to be investigated in more
details in the next future, as well as the search for other prenylated
secondary metabolites and their effects. In this context it is noteworthy also to underline how prenylation of phenylpropanoids and
polyphenols in general has been reported to largely ameliorate the
pharmacological effectiveness respect to parent unprenylated secondary metabolites [25].
4. Conclusions
In this article it has been described an easy and effective HPLC
methodology for the qualitative and quantitative analysis in four
selected natural honey samples of the naturally occurring biologically active 4 -geranyloxyferulic acid. The ndings described
herein represent the rst examples reported in the literature of
the characterization of an oxyprenylated secondary metabolite in

honey. Adopting slight experimental modications respect to previously reported HPLC methods [11], the methodology described
in the present study is effective in selectively allow to qualitatively
and quantitatively determine GOFA in a real complex matrices
like honey samples. It may be represent a valuable basis for the
investigation of the presence of other oxyprenylated secondary
metabolites in the same samples. On the basis of the already in
so far reported pharmacological properties of such a secondary
metabolite, data reported herein may be a stimulus for future investigations having as the scope the correlation of the presence of
GOFA with a potential dietary chemoprevention protocol based
on feeding with honey and other foods rich in natural products
with proven cancer chemopreventive agents like Citrus fruits [11].
In view of the well-documented pharmacological effects so far
ascribed to GOFA both in vitro and in vivo, the analytical procedure set-up in the present study will be of sure help to evaluate
the presence of this secondary metabolite in natural honeys of
origins different than those described herein and but also in honeycontaining preparations.
Acknowledgement
Financial support to this research from the University G.
DAnnunzio of Chieti-Pescara was gratefully acknowledged.
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Please cite this article in press as: S. Genovese, et al., Quantication of 4 -geranyloxyferulic acid (GOFA) in honey samples of different
origin by validated RP-HPLC-UV method, J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2015.09.018