Issue 8, 2014

Simultaneous targeted analysis of five active compounds in licorice by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid linear-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

An ultra-fast liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-ESI-MS/MS) method was developed for targeted analysis of 5 active compounds in licorice for the first time. The sample preparation procedure, chromatographic and mass spectrographic conditions were optimized. By using a Kinetex C18 100A column, the five compounds were separated within 8.0 min by gradient elution using methanol containing 0.1% acetic acid and 0.1% aqueous acetic acid. The precursor and product ions of the analytes were monitored on a hybrid quadrupole/linear ion trap mass spectrometer equipped with a turbo ion spray interface in negative ionization mode (ESI) and were simultaneously characterized and quantified based on the multiple reaction monitoring-information-dependent acquisition-enhanced product ion (MRM-IDA-EPI) mode. All standard calibration curves expressed satisfactory linearity (r ≥ 0.9954) within a relatively wide range. The precision was evaluated by intra- and inter-day tests, which revealed relative standard deviation (RSD) values within the ranges of 1.15–4.56% and 0.81–3.95%, respectively. The recovery assays for the quantified compounds were between 97.33 and 100.4% with RSD values less than 4.27%. The proposed method was demonstrated to be simple, rapid, specific and reliable and was successfully applied for identification and quantification of 5 active compounds in 10 batches of licorice. The results showed that the contents of the 5 compounds in licorice from different sources were widely varied.

Graphical abstract: Simultaneous targeted analysis of five active compounds in licorice by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid linear-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Nov 2013
Accepted
28 Dec 2013
First published
03 Jan 2014

Analyst, 2014,139, 1883-1894

Simultaneous targeted analysis of five active compounds in licorice by ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid linear-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry

W. Kong, J. Wen, Y. Yang, F. Qiu, P. Sheng and M. Yang, Analyst, 2014, 139, 1883 DOI: 10.1039/C3AN02209A

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