Rapid analysis and identification of the main constituents in Patrinia scabiosaefolia Fisch. by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS

Abstract

Patrinia scabiosaefolia Fisch. (PSF), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine, has been demonstrated to show therapeutic effects on inflammatory bowel disease. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) was developed for identification of the major constituents in PSF. The separation analysis was performed on Waters Acquity UPLC system, and the accurate mass of molecules and their fragment ions were determined by Q-TOF-MS. Thirty-one constituents, including triterpenoids, iridoids, flavonoids, and organic acids were detected and tentatively deduced on the basis of their element compositions, tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) data, and relevant literatures. Twelve constituents were discovered for the first time in PSF. The results demonstrated that hederagenin-type and oleanolic acid-type saponins were the main constituents of PSF. Our work provides a certain foundation for further quantitation of major chemical constituents and in vivo pharmacokinetic studies of PSF. Moreover, the analytical approach developed herein has proven to be generally applicable for profiling the chemical constituents in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) and other complicated mixtures.