Abstract
Flos Lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ) is a popular herb used for many centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine as a treatment of fever and inflammation. Non-fumigated processing of FLJ has been the traditional approach used in post-harvest preparation of the commodity for commercial use. However, in recent years, natural drying processing of FLJ has been replaced by sulfur-fumigation for efficiency and pest control. Sulfur-fumigation can induce changes in the volatile compounds of the herb, altering its medicinal properties. A comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOF/MS) method was established for the resolution and determination of volatile components in non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated FLJ. In this paper, analysis of the volatile oils in non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated (including lab-prepared sulfur- fumigated and industrial sulfur-fumigated) FLJ was performed using GC×GC-TOF/MS. Seventy-three representative volatile components were identified, including furans, alkalies, acids, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, terpenes, esters, and others, as the main components of FLJ volatile oils. The proposed method was successfully applied for rapid and accurate quality evaluation of FLJ and its related medicinal materials and preparations.
Highlights
Flos Lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ) is derived from the dried flower buds of Lonicera japonica Thunb and is a popular medicinal herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
The quality of FLJ volatile oils can be assessed by comparing the contents of these compounds
The present study has described the development of a sensitive and comprehensive method for analyzing volatile compounds found in non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated Flos Lonicerae Japonicae through the use of gas chromatography (GC)×GC-TOF/MS
Summary
Flos Lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ) is derived from the dried flower buds of Lonicera japonica Thunb and is a popular medicinal herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). GC×GC connected to MS with time-of-flight (TOF) analyzer is showing specific advantages in providing accurate mass analysis, resolving power, enhanced selectivity, and high-throughput screening for analysis of complex matrixes such as volatile oils [17,18]. These advantages allow unequivocal identification of ingredients with low quantities, as well as the possibility of quantitation at low concentration levels using extracted ion chromatograms. Nine groups of volatile components, including furans, alkalies, acids, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, terpenes, esters and others, were identified for profiling and evaluating the non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated FLJ samples. This method could be applied to rapidly discriminate sulfur-fumigated FLJ among commercial samples
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