Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Identification of bioactive compounds in red watermelon extract using qualitative liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Mochamad Bahrudin^1,2, Asra A Fauzi³ , Paulus Sugianto⁴

¹Doctoral Program of Medical Science, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya,; ²Medical Faculty, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Malang,; ³Department of Neurosurgery,; ⁴Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga / Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia.

For correspondence:- Asra Fauzi Email: asra.al@fk.unair.ac.id Tel:+62-81333934999

Received: 6 November 2024 Accepted: 10 February 2025 Published: 28 February 2025

Citation: Bahrudin M, Fauzi AA, Sugianto P. Identification of bioactive compounds in red watermelon extract using qualitative liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Trop J Pharm Res 2025; 24(2):249-256 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v24i2.13

© 2025 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To qualitatively determine the bioactive compounds in red watermelon fruit extract using LC MS/MS Methods: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to identify and characterize the bioactive compounds in red watermelon fruit extract, with optimization of chromatographic and MS/MS parameters. Results: The use of total ion chromatogram (TIC) for extraction of fragmentation products from target m/z revealed the retention times for various compounds. Lycopene compounds had retention time (tR) of 1.08 min; retinol (vitamin A) had tR of 1.14 min, while citrulline had tR of 1.23 min. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) had tR of 1.35 min, while α-tocopherol (vitamin E) had tR of 9.93 min. Conclusion: Using LC-MS/MS analysis, lycopene, citrulline, vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E have been identified as primary bioactive compounds in red watermelon pulp extract.

Keywords: Red watermelon, Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, Bioactives, Lycopene, Citrulline, Retinol, Ascorbic acid, alpha-Tocopherol