## 2 Results and Discussion
### Profiling of the Phenolic Composition
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline ID. & **Compounds** & **RT** & **[M \(-\) H\(-\) H\(-\) H\(-\) H\(-\) & **MS\({}^{2}\) ion** & **MS\({}^{3}\) ion** & & & \\  & & **(min)** & **(\(m/z\))** & **Fragments** & **Fragments** & **Exp. 1 ** & **Ident. 4** \\  & & & & & & & \\
**51** & Rosmadial & 19.87 & **343** & **315**, 299 & 287, 269, 297 & x & x & [3, 4, 13] \\
**52** & Rosmardiiphenyl & 20.09 & **315** & **285**, 179, 135 & 285, 214, 201, & x & x & [3, 31] \\
**53** & 5,6,7,10-tetrahydro-7 hydroxy & 20.37 & **301** & **258**, 283, 273, 243, 257, 188, & x & x & [14] \\  & rosmariquinone & 217, 233 & 215, 162 & x & x & x & Std \\
**54** & Carnosic acid & 20.85 & **331** & **287** & 287, 244, 272, & x & x & Std \\
**55** & 12-O-Methylcanoic acid & 21.87 & **345** & **301**, 286 & 286 & x & x & Std \\
**56** & Carnosol isomer & 21.88 & **329** & 329, 314, 299, & x & x & x & [31] \\
**57** & Betulnic acid & 23.71 & **455**, 5 & 327, 317, 353, & x & x & Std \\  & & & & & 409, 437 & & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
* Fragment ions are listed in order of relative abundance; \({}^{b}\) MS\({}^{2}\) ions in bold were those subjected to MS\({}^{3}\) fragmentation; \({}^{c}\) Exp. 1, detected under experimental condition 1 (carnosol), Exp. 2, experimental condition 2 (rosmarinic acid); \({}^{d}\) Ident., identification mode: [Reference] or Std (standard, compound identified by comparison of its retention time and MS data with that of a reference compound). Some compounds were defined as “derivatives” since parts of their spectra match those of their corresponding parent compounds but they cannot be fully elucidated.[ENDFOOTNOTE]  
\end{table} 
Table 1: _Cont._such as diosmetin or hispidulin [23]. With respect to flavanones, three aglycones (compounds **19**, **28**, and **36**) and one trutinoside (**9**) were detected. Isorhamtein was the only flavonol detected, in both the free (**22**) and glycosylated forms (**6** and **20**) [4]. Five phenolic acids were identified in the rosmary extract, a hydroxybenzoic acid (compound **7**), two hydroxycinnamic acids (**1** and **3**), and two rosmarinic acid derivatives (**11** and **24**). These findings are in agreement with previous works [4; 13]. The profiling of the (poly)phenolic fraction of the rosmary extract also allowed the identification of three lignans, namely medioresinol (**2**) [12] and two medioresinol derivatives (**15** and **18**), the latter tentatively identified for the first time in this plant material. Only one triterpene acid, betulinic acid (**57**), was detected. Oleanolic acid and unsolic acid, typically present in the triterpen fraction of rosmary [3], were not detected in this extract. This comprehensive analysis of the phenolic composition of a rosmary extract represents the broadest characterization of its (poly)phenolic fingerprint to date. From the 57 (poly)phenolic compounds tentatively identified, a quarter corresponded to molecules not previously reported as present in this plant. Despite accurate characterizations of rosmary extracts reported in the literature [4; 12; 17; 18; 23; 32], this work extends the range of molecules contributing to the definition of this food matrix, and may assist in the study of its bioactive properties (Figure 2). The specific experimental condition in which each compound was detected is reported in Table 1. Interestingly, while some chemical scaffolds could not be identified under experimental condition 2 (optimized for rosmarinic acid analysis), all the structures responded well to the MS settings of experimental condition 1 (optimized for carnosol analysis). In comparison with some other works using the same methodology [21; 33], this is the first time that a specific MS configuration was able to detect all the identified compounds of a phenolic-rich plant matrix. This information may account for the versatility of MS experimental condition 1 in identifying varying phenolic structures, such as simple phenolic acids, different kinds of flavonoids, triterpenoids, and triterpenoids.