Summary.A new liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of glycyrrhizin, formononetin, glycyrrhetinic acid, liquiritin, isoliquiritigenin, and licochalcone A in licorice. An Eclipse Plus C 18 column (I.D. 4.6 × 100 mm, 3.5 μm particle size; Agilent) was used in the analysis. Electrospray ionization (ESI)-tandem interface in the negative mode was performed, and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) was employed with the precursor multiple reaction monitoring production combination for the determination of six analytes. The average recoveries ranged from 98.30% to 100.13% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) ≤1.95%, and limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 2.1 to 3.6 pg. The applicability of this analytical approach was confirmed by the successful analysis of six samples. The results indicated that the established method was validated, sensitive, and reliable for the determination of six analytes in licorice.

Background and Aims: We report the chemometric classification of commercial Chinese Cabernet Sauvignon dry red wines according to the winegrowing region based on the coupling of synchronous fluorescence (SF) and ultraviolet (UV)-visible (VIS) spectroscopies. Methods and Results: Total SF spectra at a wavelength difference (Δλ) of 10-150 nm with 10-nm intervals, UV spectra in the 240 to 380 nm range and VIS spectra in the 380-to 700-nm range were recorded. A simple classification model was constructed by principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis and was evaluated by external validation. The combined use of SF and UV-VIS spectroscopies offered clearer classification than the individual techniques. The Δλ in SF spectroscopy was revealed to play an important role in the classification. The combination of SF spectroscopy at Δλ 30, 60, 90 and 120 nm and UV-VIS spectroscopy achieved the highest prediction rate (79.2%). Conclusions: The fusion of data from UV-VIS and SF spectroscopies at multiple Δλ with certain pitched intervals, which has retained more complementary and useful information, can mostly improve the classification of wines. Significance of the Study: The joint use of the two complementary spectroscopies provides an alternative to discriminate wines from different geographical origins.