Application of UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS to Identify Multiple Constituents in Processed Products of the Herbal Medicine Ligustri Lucidi Fructus.

Hui Li,Anwei Ding,Beihua Bao,Yudan Cao,Jia Xu,Fangfang Cheng,Mingqiu Shan,Qinan Liu,Weifeng Yao,Li Zhang

doi:10.3390/molecules22050689

Hui Li, Anwei Ding + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22050689

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Abstract

Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLF), the fruit of Ligustrum lucidum Ait. (Oleaceae), has been used as a common herbal medicine in clinical practice in China for nearly 2000 years. In most cases, LLF is prescribed in decoctions in the form of processed products rather than crude drugs. In this study, an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS) method was established for rapid separation and identification of multiple constituents in the 80% methanol extract of processed-LLF. A total of 50 compounds (one phenylethanoid, seven phenylethanoid glycosides, seven flavonoids, 25 iridoids, nine triterpenoids and one cyclohexanecarboxylic acid) were either unambiguously identified or tentatively characterized with the aid of authentic standards or published data. Luteolin-7-O-rutinoside, oleoside and secologanoside were detected in LLF for the first time. This study enriches the chemical profiling of processed-LLF and could provide valuable information for the quality control and further investigation of processed-LLF and crude LLF.

Highlights

Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLF), the dried ripe fruit of Ligustrum lucidum Ait. (Oleaceae), known as Nüzhenzi in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is a widely used herbal medicine inChina, and a functional food material authorized by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)
Crude drugs usually need to be treated in some special way before they can be used as medicines, which is one of the characteristic features of TCMs
The identification of compounds was carried out by comparing their retention times and mass spectra provided by TOF-MS with those of authentic standards when available

Summary

Introduction

Ligustri Lucidi Fructus (LLF), the dried ripe fruit of Ligustrum lucidum Ait. (Oleaceae), known as Nüzhenzi in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is a widely used herbal medicine inChina, and a functional food material authorized by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). Nüzhenzi was first recorded as a traditional Chinese medicine in the earliest book of Chinese herbal medicine, titled Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic [1], which was written in the Western Han Dynasty and has a history of almost 2000 years of use. In this ancient and classical book, Nüzhenzi was listed in the “top class” medicines and claimed to have the ability of maintaining healthy energy. After being steamed with wine, the function of LLF will be strengthened and the chemical constituents will change, in quantity and in quality [4]

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