To identify compounds, a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR)-based metabolomics method was used on an extract of Grindelia squarrosa. The extract was separated based on polarity, one of the parameters used to evaluate the potential for a new bioactive compound to be suitable for oral administration. The seven most polar fractions–out of eleven total fractions–were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy using an HSQC pulse sequence. The resulting peaks were queried against the Biological Magnetic Resonance Databank. The database returned 597 compounds, which were selected to include only those compounds that had greater than 50% of the peaks matching. After selection, 88 compounds were reported, including three bioactive compounds: agmatine, 4-guanidinobutyric acid, and dopamine.
