Chemical and metabolic profiling of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids in the bulbs of Narcissus tazetta L. var. chinensis Roem using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry with data mining strategy

Abstract

RationaleThe bulbs of Narcissus tazetta L. var. chinensis Roem (BNTCR) has been used as an herbal medicine for the treatment of carbuncles in China. The previous phytochemical studies indicated that the main active components of BNTCR were Amarllidaceae alkaloids (AAs). However, the comprehensive chemical and metabolic profiling of AAs in BNTCR remains underexplored. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an accurate and rapid approach for chemical characterization and metabolic profiling of AAs in BNTCR.MethodsThe structural elucidation of natural products by ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐QTOF‐MS/MS) with outstanding properties is still limited due to complex mixtures that contain hundreds of compounds. In this study, we employed UHPLC‐QTOF‐MS/MS with a data mining strategy, including diagnostic fragment ions (DFIs) and neutral loss (NL), for rapid classifying and identifying AAs in BNTCR and prototypes absorbed into the blood of mice after oral administration of BNTCR extract.ResultsAs a result, 87 AAs, including 13 narciclasine type, 13 homolycorine type, 17 lycorine type, 12 galanthamine type, 25 haemanthamine type, and 7 tazettine type, were tentatively characterized (6 verified with authentic standards). In addition, a total of 44 prototypes were identified in mice plasma, urine, and fecal samples. Among them, 8 prototypes were found in plasma, 36 in urine, and 40 in feces, respectively. Lycorine, pseudolycorine, homolycorine, 8‐O‐demetylhomolycorine, and tazettine, as major AAs in BNTCR, were absorbed into the blood.ConclusionsOur findings provided a crucial step for the elucidation of the active compounds in BNTCR for treatment of carbuncles. In the future, the developed strategy could also be applied for identifying AAs in other herbal medicines from Amarllidaceae.