Global identification and quantitative analysis of representative components of Xin-Nao-Kang Capsule, a traditional Chinese medicinal formula, by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS and UHPLC-TQ-MS.

Xin-Nao-Kang Capsule (XNKC), a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is widely used for the treatment of angina pectoris, cerebral arteriosclerosis and coronary artery disease in China. However, the chemical components have not been holistically explored. In this study, a total of 173 chemical components including 48 flavonoids, 8 lactones, 35 acids, 12 phenanthraquinones, 8 monoterpene glycosides, 32 triterpenoids and 30 other compounds were identified, among which 37 were unambiguously characterized in comparison with their corresponding authentic standards using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadruple time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS). To further elucidate the major representative constitutes of XNKC, a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TQ-MS) method was used for simultaneous quantitative analysis of 34 major representative constitutes in ten batches of XNKC samples, which was validated in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy, repeatability and recovery. Meanwhile, the results of chemometric analysis indicated that puerarin and salvianolic acid B might be the most potential quantitative markers for quality control of XNKC. Taken together, the chemical constitutes of XNKC were systematically identified and a reliable quantitative method coupled with chemometric analysis was successfully employed for evaluating the holistic quality of XNKC. This study will provide a robust foundation for the holistic quality assessment of XNKC.