Identification of phenolic compounds in red wine extract samples and zebrafish embryos by HPLC-ESI-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS

• Polyphenol compounds have been identified in red wine extracts.
• Polyphenols in zebra fish (ZF) embryos, exposed to the red wine extract, were determined.
• First comprehensive identification of phenolic compounds in ZF using LTQ-Orbitrap.
• The metabolic capacity of ZF embryos was observed.

The zebrafish embryo is a highly interesting biological model with applications in different scientific fields, such as biomedicine, pharmacology and toxicology. In this study, we used liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation-linear ion trap quadrupole-Orbitrap-mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS) to identify the polyphenol compounds in a red wine extract and zebrafish embryos. Phenolic compounds and anthocyanin metabolites were determined in zebrafish embryos previously exposed to the red wine extract. Compounds were identified by injection in a high-resolution system (LTQ-Orbitrap) using accurate mass measurements in MS, MS2 and MS3 modes. To our knowledge, this research constitutes the first comprehensive identification of phenolic compounds in zebrafish by HPLC coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry.