Rapid analysis of nine lignans in Schisandra chinensis by supercritical fluid chromatography using diode array and mass spectrometric detection.

Lignans are the bioactive constituents in Schisandra chinensis fruits. For the first time major representatives could directly be determined in plant extracts by using Supercritical Fluid Chromatography. Based on nine commercially available standards the method was developed, finally permitting their baseline separation in less than 10 min. The optimum setup showed to be a Viridis HSS C18 SB column, supercritical carbon dioxide and methanol. The compounds could be assigned in the extracts either at 210 nm or by MS, for which no modifications except of an additional sheath liquid (0.1 % acetic acid in methanol) were required. The determined lignan patterns were typical for S. chinensis, with schisandrol A being the most abundant compound, followed by schisandrin B or schisandrol B. As method validation results also complied well with the requirements the here presented method is definitely an interesting alternative to established techniques like UHPLC for the analysis of lignans in Schisandra chinensis.