Chemical Constituents from Ferula songarica and Ferula foetida: a Dereplication Approach

The genus Ferula (Apiaceae) is widely distributed across Central and Southwest Asia and is recognized for its diverse secondary metabolites and traditional medicinal uses. However, the phytochemical composition of Ferula songarica and Ferula foetida from Kazakhstan remains poorly explored. In this study, UHPLC–ESI–MS/MS-based metabolite profiling coupled with in silico annotation was applied to characterize methanolic extracts of F. songarica and F. foetida. A total of 20 metabolites were tentatively identified in F. songarica, dominated by daucane-type sesquiterpenes, along with flavonol glycosides, prenylated benzoic acids, and a fatty acid. In F. foetida, nine metabolites were annotated, primarily caffeoylquinic acid derivatives and fatty acids. Compound identification was achieved with high mass accuracy (<5 ppm) using a curated Apiaceae and Ferula-specific database integrated into SIRIUS. Several metabolites were confirmed at Level 1 confidence based on prior isolation in this laboratory, while the remainder were assigned as Level 3 annotations. Mechanistic MS/MS analysis revealed characteristic fragmentation pathways for each compound class. Notably, this study represents the first comprehensive UHPLC–ESI–MS/MS profiling of F. songarica and F. foetida from Kazakhstan. These findings expand the phytochemical knowledge of Ferula and highlight their potential as sources of bioactive natural products.