Qualitative and quantitative determination of nine main active constituents in Pulsatilla cernua by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A novel qualitative and quantitative method using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) was developed for simultaneous determination of the nine major active constituents in Pulsatilla cernua (Thunb.) Bercht. et Opiz., namely anemoside A3 (1), anemoside B4 (2), 23-hydroxybetulinic acid (3), cirenshenoside S (4), pulsatilloside B (5), pulsatilloside C (6), oleanolic acid (7), ajugasterone C (8) and β-ecdysterone (9), respectively. A Sapphire C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) and gradient elution were used during the analysis. The identification and quantification of the analytes were achieved on a hybrid quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometer. Multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) scanning was employed for quantification with switching electrospray ion source polarity between positive and negative modes in a single run. All calibration curves showed good linearity (r(2) > 0.9948) within the test ranges. The intra and interday variations for nine analytes were less than 3.95 and 3.78%, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to determine the investigated compounds in 15 batches of natural and cultured samples of P. cernua. The results indicated that the method was simple, rapid, specific and reliable, which is helpful to comprehensive evaluation of quality of P. cernua.