Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography–Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of Constituents of Corydalis bungeana Turcz Extract

Abstract

In this study, the constituents of a Corydalis bungeana Turcz extract were qualitatively analyzed using gradient elution with a mobile phase of 0.2% acetic acid and acetonitrile. We obtained comprehensive insight into the constituents of C. bungeana Turcz extracts through the quantitative analysis of 14 compounds by comparison with authentic reference standards, and tentatively identified an additional 44 compounds through electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI–MS) and tandem MS detection. The separation was successfully achieved using an Agilent SB-C18 column (1.8 µm, 150 × 2.1 mm; Agilent, Santa, CA, USA). A tandem quadrupole spectrometer was operated in either full-scan mode or multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) for the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the constituents, respectively. Validation data (inter-day and intra-day combined) for accuracy and precision ranged from −4.80% to 4.73%, and 0.30% to 4.97%, respectively. An ultrahigh performance liquid chromatographic–ESI–tandem MS (UHPLC–ESI–MS/MS) method for qualitative of C. bungeana Turcz (C. bungeana) extract and the quantification of 14 alkaloids, namely, A–N, was developed and validated. Quantitative analysis involved gradient elution with a mobile phase of 0.1% acetic acid and methanol for 45 min. The separation was successfully achieved using a Waters SB-C18 column (1.8 µm, 100 mm × 2.1 mm, Waters, Milford, Massachusetts, USA). The repeatability and stability of the method also met USFDA criteria with CV values lower than 5%. The limit of detection of the 14 alkaloids ranged from 9.74 to 13.00 ng/mL, whereas the linearities of the standard curves were between 0.9991 and 0.9995. In total, 15 commercial samples from 11 different sources were analyzed.