Determination of Four Compositions of Lonicerae japonicae flos Based on UPLC–MS/MS Method

Abstract

Background Lonicerae japonicae flos, a representative kind of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for clearing heat and detoxifying, is known as Jinyinhua in China. The determination of multiple components’ content, especially multiple pharmacological components’ content, is often used to evaluate the quality of TCM, which could objectively evaluate the quality of TCM. Purpose The ultra high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) method was used to determine the content of chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C, and luteoloside in the current study. Methods 15 batches of Lonicera japonica flos were collected from different sources. 75% methanol was taken as a solvent, and the solution ratio was 1 (mg:mL). The ultrasonic method was utilized to prepare the sample solution for 30 min, which was centrifuged for 10 min at 10,000 rpm. Then, the supernatant was taken for reserve. C18 was chosen as the fixed phase, and acetonitrile (A)–0.1% phosphate acid solution (B) was chosen as the mobile phase. The flow rate was 0.3 mL.min−1. The column temperature was 40°C, and the sample injection was 1 µL. In the negative ion mode, data were collected using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) scan mode. Results The scope of chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C, and luteoloside was in the range of 62.5–6,250 ng. mL−1, which had good linearity ( r2 = 0.9997). The content of the four components showed some differences among different sources. Conclusion The method was fast and sensitive, which could effectively evaluate and control the quality of Lonicera japonica flos.