Genus Terminalia is known to be a rich source of secondary metabolites, mainly polypohenols and triterpenoids. About 39 species have been phytochemically studied leading to the identification of 368 compounds. This work involves the use of hyphenated mass spectrometric methods such as HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS and UPLC-ESI-QqQLIT-MS/MS for qualitative and quantitative analysis of major bioactive constituents in selected medicinal plants without isolation. It also describes the methods of mass fingerprinting and their use to investigate the plant species variations with the help of statistical software’s (PCA). Markers were identified for quality control and authentications.

Genus Terminalia is known to be a rich source of secondary metabolites, mainly polypohenols and triterpenoids. About 39 species have been phytochemically studied leading to the identification of 368 compounds. This work involves the use of hyphenated mass spectrometric methods such as HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS and UPLC-ESI-QqQLIT-MS/MS for qualitative and quantitative analysis of major bioactive constituents in selected medicinal plants without isolation. It also describes the methods of mass fingerprinting and their use to investigate the plant species variations with the help of statistical software’s (PCA). Markers were identified for quality control and authentications.