IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF POLYPHENOLS IN RHIZOMA SMILACIS CHINAE BY HPLC/DAD/ESI-MS/MS

Rhizoma Smilacis Chinae (RSC) is a commonly used herbal material in Traditional Chinese Medicine. A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the identification and quantification of polyphenols in RSC. Ten components in RSC were identified by diode array detector (DAD) and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) techniques. These were chlorogenic acid, 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid, taxifolin, engeletin, isoengeletin, trans-resveratrol, astilbin, and its three stereoisomers. The extraction process was also optimized as 20min sonication in 40% ethanol. A quantitative method for simultaneous determination of chlorogenic acid, astilbin, taxifolin, engeletin, and resveratrol in RSC was developed. The method was successfully applied for analysis of six batches of RSC samples. The results indicated that the method was reproducible and precise, and could be readily utilized for the quality control of RSC.