Structural characterization and anti-inflammatory activity evaluation of chemical constituents in the extract of Trifolium repens L.

The chemical constituents in Trifolium repens L. were comprehensively studied by UPLC in this work, and a total number of 308 compounds were detected with 169 ones identified. The possible fragmentation pathways were proposed and fragmentation rules were summarized. On the basis of the concluded strategies, the characterized compounds could be classified into organic acids and their derivatives, alkaloids, amino acids, peptides, flavonoids, oligosaccharides, coumarins, and other types of compounds. This approach provided a rapid way for the identification of constituents in T. repens L., and even in other complex analytes. Among the separation and identification of the constituents, three compounds of great amount were isolated and characterized by NMR. The expression of iNOS and COX-2 in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells was suppressed by the pretreatment with three isolated constituents. The results implied they may potentially serve as a remedy for the therapy of inflammation. Practical applications This work provided a rapid method for the identification of the complex analyte, which could be used in TCM, natural food and so on. The summarized fragmentation rule could be applied for the analysis of several types of compounds, such as organic acids and their derivatives, alkaloids, amino acids and peptides, flavonoids, oligosaccharides, coumarins, and so on. Most of natural plants contain these kinds of compounds, so these rules could have wide applications. Except the phytochemical investigation, T. repens L. displayed anti-inflammation activity according to the reported literature, and the three isolated constituents may potentially serve as a remedy for the therapy of inflammation referring to the result of this research.