posted on 2022-12-21, 22:29authored byMegan
I. Chambers, Justine E. Giffen-Lemieux, Rabi A. Musah
In recent years, national laboratories have identified
several
plant-derived materials as concerns to public health because of their
psychoactive effects, potential for abuse, and the lack of federal
regulation of their use. One of these is Salvia divinorum (aka Salvia), which has received focused attention due to its increasing
recreational use and the ease by which it can be acquired. Traditional chromatographic approaches
for the detection of the major psychoactive component of Salvia (i.e.,
salvinorin A) typically require time-consuming sample pretreatment
prior to identifying the presence of salvinorin A in plant material
unknowns. In this study, direct analysis in real time–high-resolution
mass spectrometry (DART-HRMS) was used to rapidly screen for Salvia
plant material. This approach facilitated the analysis of bulk material
in its native form, thereby bypassing sample pretreatment steps. In
addition, a validated DART-HRMS method was developed for the quantification
of salvinorin A in commercial Salvia products (e.g., raw plant materials,
enhanced leaf extracts). In this regard, cholesterol was found to
be a suitable internal standard. The average salvinorin A content
in raw Salvia leaves was determined to be 1.54 mg/g, while the salvinorin
A quantified in enhanced Salvia leaf extracts was between 13.0 and
53.2 mg/g.