Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis 29 (2002) 1053–1060 GC – MS analysis of the lipophilic principles of Echinacea purpurea and evaluation of cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) infection Mohammad Hudaib a, *, Jessica Fiori a , Maria Grazia Bellardi b , Concepcion Rubies-Autonell b , Vanni Cavrini a a Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Uniersity of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, 40126 Bologna, Italy b UCI -STAA, Istituto di Patologia Vegetale, Uniersity of Bologna, Via F. Re 8, 40126 Bologna, Italy Received 6 June 2001; received in revised form 13 November 2001; accepted 13 November 2001 Abstract An analytical GC – MS method based on nonpolar fused silica capillary column was developed to analyze the lipophilic constituents, mainly alkamides, from the root extracts of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench. In particular, the proposed method was applied to evaluate the phytochemical impacts of cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) infection on the plant’s lipophilic marker phytochemicals. Methanolic (70% v/v) extracts, obtained from root materials by ultrasonic treatments, were subjected to liquid – liquid extraction with n -hexane-ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v) to recover the lipophilic, volatile to semivolatile, principles. Seventeen components, including the 11 alkamides known to E. purpurea roots, were identified in the GC–MS traces of the analyzed fractions and efficiently separated in a turnaround time of 25 min. CMV infection was found to be responsible for significant variations in the relative compositions of the major constituents, in particular germacrene D, Dodeca-2E, 4E, 8Z, 10Z(E)-tetraenoic acid isobutylamide cis /trans isomers, Undeca-2Z, 4E-diene-8, 10-diynoic acid isobutylamide and Dodeca-2E, 4Z-diene-8, 10-diynoic acid isobutylamide. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Echinacea purpurea (L.); Alkamides; GC – MS analysis; Nonpolar capillary column; Cucumber mosaic cucumovirus www.elsevier.com/locate/jpba 1. Introduction Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench (also known as ‘purple cone flower’) is one of the most impor- tant medicinal plants, used worldwide as herbal drug for its immunostimulant, bacteriostatic, anti- inflammatory and woundhealing properties that mediate its indications mainly for upper respira- tory tract diseases and infections [1–4]. The plant is indigenous to northern America and is one of the most investigated Echinacea species (E. pur - purea, E. angustifolia, and Echinacea pallida ) highly cultivated in Europe (mainly in Germany) and USA as a natural drug and/or food supple- ment. Many polar and apolar compound fractions were so far isolated and characterized from the roots or top parts of the plant [5–8]. These in- * Corresponding author. Fax: +39-51-2099734 E-mail address: hudaib1@yahoo.com (M. Hudaib). 0731-7085/02/$ - see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0731-7085(02)00146-2