Tocotrienol-Dominated Berberidaceae Species’ Seed Tocochromanols: Screening via Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction in Ethanol

Inspired by the lack of wide-scale family level screenings, the profile of tocochromanols in Berberidaceae family species belonging to the <i>Berberis</i>, <i>Mahonia</i>, <i>Caulophyllum</i>, <i>Jeffersonia</i> and <i>Podophyllum</i> genera was studied. Seeds were acquired from botanical gardens around the world and tocopherol and tocotrienol content was tested using ultrasound-assisted extraction in ethanol (UAEE) and compared to saponification protocol and analyzed by an RP-HPLC-FLD system. The UAEE protocol produced 93% average tocochromanol recovery compared to the saponification protocol. All investigated samples were tocotrienol-dominated, the lowest proportions being in <i>B. regeliana</i>, <i>B. thunbergii</i> and <i>B. aristata</i> at means of 55%, 56% and 58%, respectively. The main tocochromanol constituents were α-tocotrienol and γ-tocotrienol. The highest α-tocotrienol content was observed in <i>B. tchonskyana</i> at 9.14 mg 100 g^-1 dw, and the highest γ-tocotrienol and sum of free tocochromanol content was observed in <i>J. diphylla</i> at 18.00 and 23.76 mg 100 g^-1 dw, respectively. Principal component analysis and k-means cluster analysis based on a free tocochromanol profile indicated γ-tocotrienol and α-tocotrienol content as the main differentiators. However, a comprehensive sample set could only be collected for the <i>Berberis</i> genus, warranting further research into Berberidaceae seed tocochromanols.