Determination of artemisinin in Artemisia species by hollow fiber-based liquid-phase microextraction and electrospray ionization-ion mobility spectrometry

Abstract

A method based on hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) combined with electrospray ionization-ion mobility spectrometry was developed for the determination of artemisinin in the leaf, stem and root of six Artemisia species. Artemisinin was extracted from an aqueous sample through a thin phase of organic solvent (n-dodecane) filling the pores of the hollow fiber wall and then back extracted into the methanol located in the lumen of the hollow fiber. The effect of experimental parameters on the extraction efficiency of HF-LPME including sample ionic strength, stirring rate and extraction time were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the linear dynamic range for the analyte was found to be 50–1000 ng mL−1 for the leaf and stem, and 20–500 ng mL−1 for the root of Artemisia vulgaris L. Detection limits were 24, 12 and 20 ng mL−1 (0.72, 0.36 and 0.61 mg kg−1 of dried sample) for the leaf, root and stem, respectively. The relative standard deviations for three replicate measurements of the method varied from 5.8% to 10.2% at a concentration level of 50–200 ng mL−1.