Quality evaluation of Desmodium styracifolium using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry.

INTRODUCTION

Desmodium styracifolium, with C-flavone glycosides as main pharmacological effective compounds, is a popular Chinese medicinal herb and has been used to treat urination disturbance, urolithiasis, edema and jaundice. However, few systematic methods have been reported on the quality control of this natural herb.

OBJECTIVE

To develop a method for control the quality of D. styracifolium by combining chromatographic fingerprints and major constituent quantification.

METHOD

Separations were performed on an Ultimate XB-C-18 column by gradient elution using acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid. Analytes were identified by HPLC coupled with electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry experiments.

RESULTS

Twenty common peaks in chromatographic fingerprints were first identified among 15 batches of D. styracifolium from various regions. On basis of this, a HPLC-PAD method was established to simultaneously quantify five major constituents, which was validated for limit of qualification, linearity and interday variation of precision and accuracy.

CONCLUSION

The assay developed could be considered as a suitable quality control method of D. styracifolium.