α-Hederin is a water-soluble pentacyclic triterpene compound present in the seeds of Nigella sativa.

Utilised internal standard for the determination of glycyrrhizin and its major metabolite glycyrrhetic acid in human plasma by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC−MS/MS) and also used as an external standard for quinovic acid glycosides assay by high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA) as well as ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS).

Used as a reference standard for the identification of α-hederin in the leaves of common ivy (Hedera helix) by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (LC-EI/MS-MS).