Simultaneous determination of three Curcuminoids in Curcuma wenyujin Y.H.chen et C.Ling. by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry combined with pressurized liquid extraction.

A sensitive and efficient method based on pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for simultaneous identification and quantification of three Curcuminoids in Curcuma wenyujin Y.H.chen et C.Ling., a well known traditional Chinese medicinal herb. PLE was performed using methanol as the extractant, and with the temperature set at 100 °C and the pressure at 1500 psi. Shorter extraction time and less solvent consumption were obtained compared to other extraction methods. LC was performed by using a Waters XBridge C18 column (150 mm × 2.1 mm i.d., 3.5 μm) and a mobile phase of acetonitrile containing 0.1% acetic acid. The operating parameters were thoroughly optimized. The recoveries ranged from 92.4% to 104.1% and relative standard deviations were lower than 3.6%. The method was applied to the determination of Curcumin, Demethoxycurcumin and Bisdemethoxycurcumin contained in Curcuma wenyujin Y.H.chen et C.Ling. samples, which provided a new analytical approach for analysis and quality assessment of traditional Chinese medicines.