Identification and Determination of the Major Constituents in Xie-Bai-San by Ultra-performance Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Objective: The ancient classical Chinese formulation, Xie-Bai-San (XBS), was studied qualitatively and quantitatively, and its main components were characterized. Materials and Methods: The chemical compounds in XBS were identified using a combination of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry and molecular networking (MN) analysis. In addition, a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) quantification method was established using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Mulberroside A, kukoamine B, liquiritin, and glycyrrhizic acid were quantitatively analyzed in ten batches of XBS using this method. Results: Using clusters of MN and databases, 91 compounds were rapidly identified, including stilbene glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, and alkaloids. Of these, 30, 33, and 28 compounds were from Mori Cortex, Lycii Cortex, and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, respectively. The MRM scanning mode was used for the simultaneous sensitive quantitative determination of multiple components in a wide range of complex samples. The four main components were quantified using this method, which has good linearity. Conclusions: This study provides a comprehensive and reliable method for the identification and quantitative analysis of XBS.