Metabolomics and marker-based stability studies of methanol extract of seeds of Syzygium cumini L.

Though, herbal medicines are prone to deterioration upon storage due to their complex nature, but less attention has been paid to investigating stability of such products to assign shelf-life. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the accelerated stability of methanolic extract of seeds of Syzygium cumini. The extract was kept at three different storage conditions (30oC/60% RH, 40oC/75% RH and 60oC/85% RH) for a period of 6 months. The samples withdrawn at 0 (before starting the study), 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 months were analyzed to get UV-Visible metabolomics fingerprints and determine caffeic acid contents using RP-HPLC. The comparison of metabolomics fingerprints indicated that the extract was stable for 1 month at all the three storage conditions. However, caffeic acid contents were found to be intact for a longer period of time. Following the zero order degradation, caffeic acid was predicted to be stable for more than 3 years, if kept at 25oC. The results of the present study indicate that metabolomes of methanol extract of seeds of Syzygium cumini change very fast, suggesting the development of stable formulations.