Simultaneous quantitative analysis of 11 constituents in Viticis Fructus by HPLC‐HRMS and HPLC‐DAD combined with chemometric methods

Abstract

Introduction: Viticis Fructus is the dried ripe fruit of Vitex trifolia L. (VTF) or V. trifolia subsp. litoralis Steenis (VTLF). Different botanical sources of the same herbal medicines may have different clinical efficacies, but few studies have reported the comparative identification of VTF and VTLF. Objectives: To establish a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous assay of 11 constituents in Viticis Fructus, to compare the chemical compositions of VTF and VTLF, and to identify chemical markers for the discrimination and quality evaluation of the two botanical origins of Viticis Fructus. Methodology: An HPLC-diode array detection (DAD)-high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) method was developed for the simultaneous separation and quantification of 11 constituents in 21 batches of Viticis Fructus samples from different sources in China. Moreover, chemometrics were performed to compare and discriminate VTF and VTLF samples.Results: The results from 11 batches of VTF and 10 batches of VTLF were compared for 11 components, of which 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid were identified and quantified in Viticis Fructus for the first time. The quantitative analysis showed significantly higher chlorogenic acid and casticin contents in VTLF than in VTF, and the chemometric analysis indicated that chlorogenic acid and casticin were responsible for the significant differences between VTF and VTLF; these two compounds might be used as chemical markers to distinguish the two original plant sources of Viticis Fructus. Conclusions:The present work provides useful information for understanding the chemical differences between VTF and VTLF. This work also provides feasible methods for the quality evaluation and discrimination of herbal medicines originating from multiple botanical sources.

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC): Primary Mechanism and Popular Applications

“…It is a blessing that HPLC may also be used to recognize and estimate pesticides, in addition to synthetic flavorings and colorants. In order to determine the overall quality of food, HPLC has been put to widespread use for quantitative examination of a wide variety of substances, including carbohydrates, vitamins, and additives [78][79][80], table 2 [81][82][83][84][85][86][87] shows using HPLC in food analyzing field of chromatography to refer to molecules such as peptides, proteins, and antibodies. However, the concept also refers to other classes of molecules such as carbohydrates, oligonucleotides, and lipids (table 2) [65][66][67][68][69][70].…”

“…Many of these compounds has the ability to join together to create larger complexes, some of which, like antibodies, may be composed of multiple distinct parts. UPLC-QToF MS Fruit juice [83] HPLC and LC/MS Sodium Iron Chlorophyllin in Foods [84] HPLC and HPLC-MS Chlorophylls/Chlorophyll ins in Food [85] HPLC-HRMS and HPLC-DAD Viticis Fructus [86] HPLC-DAD Tetracycline antibiotic residues in milk [87] 8. Conclusions Analytical procedures based on HPLC, particularly LC-MS/MS, have remained popular and successful in the last years for the detection and quantification of a wide range of important components.…”