Chromatographic Profiling of Heracleum bivittatum H.Boissieu Root Collected in Vietnam

Heracleum bivittatum H.Boissieu, a lesser-studied member of the Apiaceae family endemic to northern Vietnam, remains underexplored in terms of its phytochemical composition and chromatographic properties. This study aims to provide a comprehensive phytochemical and chromatographic characterization of H. bivittatum root using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and Liquid Chromatography – Quadrupole Time-of-Flight – Mass Spectrometry (LC-QToF-MS) combined with molecular networking. Ethanolic extracts of H. bivittatum roots were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening, HPTLC analysis, and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. LC-MS/MS data were processed using the GNPS platform and annotated via the Network Annotation Propagation (NAP) tool with support from Reaxys, PubChem, and literature comparisons. Preliminary screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, coumarins, and non-precipitating tannins. HPTLC profiling showed distinct bands suggestive of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. LC-QToF-MS analysis led to the annotation of ten compounds, including peucedanol and zinniol, across 14 molecular families comprising 147 networked features. The combined use of HPTLC and molecular networking approaches allowed for the first-time phytochemical characterization of H. bivittatum root. These findings contribute to the chemotaxonomic understanding and medicinal evaluation of the species, highlighting its distinct metabolite profile within the Heracleum genus.