Evaluation and differentiation of the Betulaceae birch bark species and their bioactive triterpene content using analytical FT-vibrational spectroscopy and GC-MS

Background: Aiming to obtain the highest triterpene content in the extraction products, nine bark samples from the forest abundant flora of Apuseni Mountains, Romania were Raman spectroscopically evaluated. Three different natural extracts from Betula pendula Roth birch bark have been obtained and characterized using Fourier transform vibrational spectra. Results: This study shows that principal components of the birch tree extract can be rapidly recognized and differentiated based on their vibrational fingerprint band shape and intensity. The vibrational spectroscopy results are supported by the GC-MS data. Based on IR and Raman analysis, one can conclude that all the extracts, independent on the solvent(s) used, revealed dominant betulin species, followed by lupeol. Conclusions: Since Raman measurements could also be performed on fresh plant material, we demonstrated the possibility to apply the present results for the prediction of the highest triterpene content in bark species, for the selection of harvesting time or individual genotypes directly in the field, with appropriate portable Raman equipment.