| Summary: | Pentacyclic triterpenic acids from oleogum resins of <i>Boswellia</i> species are of considerable therapeutic interest. Yet, their pharmaceutical development is hampered by uncertainties regarding botanical identification and the complexity of triterpenic acid mixtures. Here, a highly sensitive, selective, and accurate method for the simultaneous quantification of eight boswellic and lupeolic acids by high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (HPLC-MS/MS) was developed. The method was applied to the comparative analysis of 41 oleogum resins of the species <i>B. sacra</i>, <i>B. dalzielli</i>, <i>B. papyrifera</i>, <i>B. serrata</i>, <i>B. carterii</i>, <i>B. neglecta</i>, <i>B. rivae</i>, <i>B. frereana</i>, and <i>B. occulta</i>. Multivariate statistical analysis of the data revealed differences in the triterpenic acid composition that could be assigned to distinct <i>Boswellia</i> species and to their geographic growth location. Extracts of the oleogum resins exhibited cytotoxicity against the human, treatment-resistant, metastatic breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Extracts from <i>B. sacra</i> were the most potent ones with an average IC<sub>50</sub> of 8.3 ± 0.6 µg/mL. The oleogum resin of the <i>B. sacra</i> was further fractionated to enrich different groups of substances. The cytotoxic efficacy against the cancer cells correlates positively with the contents of pentacyclic triterpenic acids in <i>Boswellia</i> extracts.
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