Ling Yun, Ouyang Yukun, Xue Yiran, Yu Jingmou, Liu Wenbo
School of Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences, Jiujiang University, Jiujiang 332005, People's Republic of China.
School of Life Sciences, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, People's Republic of China.
J Chromatogr Sci. 2023 Dec 13;61(10):972-979. doi: 10.1093/chromsci/bmad014.
The rhizome of Panax japonicus (RPJ) has been used for thousands of years in west China. Triterpene saponins (TSs) were considered to be the main pharmacologically bioactive ingredients in RPJ. However, it is difficult and time-consuming to profile and identify them according to the traditional phytochemical methods. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS) was used for chemical identification of TSs from the extract of RPJ in negative ion mode. Their chemical structures were tentatively elucidated based on exact formulas, fragmentation patterns and literature data. In all, 42 TSs were discovered and tentatively characterized in RPJ, of which 12 TSs were identified as potential new compounds according to their molecular mass, fragmentation pattern and chromatographic behavior. The results demonstrated that the developed HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS method was conducive to the discovery of the active ingredients of RPJ and the establishment of quality standards.
竹节参根茎（RPJ）在中国西部已被使用了数千年。三萜皂苷（TSs）被认为是RPJ中的主要药理活性成分。然而，根据传统的植物化学方法对它们进行分析和鉴定既困难又耗时。采用高效液相色谱-电喷雾电离-四极杆飞行时间质谱联用（HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS）在负离子模式下对RPJ提取物中的TSs进行化学鉴定。基于精确分子式、碎片模式和文献数据初步阐明了它们的化学结构。总共在RPJ中发现并初步表征了42种TSs，其中12种TSs根据其分子量、碎片模式和色谱行为被鉴定为潜在的新化合物。结果表明，所建立的HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS方法有助于发现RPJ的活性成分并建立质量标准。
