Identification and simultaneous determination of glycyrrhizin, formononetin, glycyrrhetinic acid, liquiritin, isoliquiritigenin, and licochalcone A in licorice by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

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.

Identification and Chemical Standardization of Licorice Raw Materials and Dietary Supplements Using UHPLC-MS/MS

“…15,16 Quality control of dietary supplements also requires quantitative measurement of chemical constituents in the starting material and in the finished product. In the case of licorice, a variety of analytical methods such as capillary-zone electrophoresis, 17 HPLC-UV, 18–22 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 7 HPLC-mass spectrometry, 10 and HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) 23–24 have been used to measure chemical constituents in crude extracts, but rarely in the complex matrices of commercial botanical dietary supplements.…”

Phytochemical composition, health effects, and crop management of liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabraL.): Α medicinal plant

“…Compounds such as glabridin, hispaglabridin (A and B), 4′-O-methylglabridin, isoprenylchalcone, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, and formononetin are among the most abundant bioactive phenolic compounds that have been identified so far, with several bioactivity properties. (33)(34)(35)(36)(37) The chemical structure of the main ingredients of liquorice, including glycyrrhizin and glabridin, are shown in Fig. 1.…”

Simultaneous Determination and Pharmacokinetic Characterization of Glycyrrhizin, Isoliquiritigenin, Liquiritigenin, and Liquiritin in Rat Plasma Following Oral Administration of Glycyrrhizae Radix Extract

“…Glycyrrhizae Radix (licorice root) has been used as a herbal medicine because of a variety of pharmacological activities, including anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic activities as well as memory enhancing and inflammation reducing effects [1]. In addition, it has been used as a flavoring agent in food products [2] and also as an adjuvant to increase the therapeutic efficacy of other drugs. For example, Glycyrrhizae Radix lowers the risk of aphthous ulcers caused by aspirin intake and the side effect of spironolactone.…”

“…Glycyrrhizae Radix contains many bioactive saponins and flavonoids along with glycyrrhizin, a major and marker component of Glycyrrhizae Radix [2,4,5,6]. It has recently been reported that glycyrrhizin exerts strong neuroprotective effects on a mouse model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis [1,7].…”

“…A high dose of GRE might be administered owing to the lower concentration of active components. Even the concentration of glycyrrhizin, which was the highest in GRE, was <2% and that of other flavones was <1% [2,4,5,6].…”