An UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous determination of multiple constituents in Guizhi Fuling capsule with ultrafast positive/negative ionization switching

Development and validation of ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method for quantitative determination of six compounds in Guizhi Fuling capsule and tablet samples

A fast and simple ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method has been developed for the determination of six analytes, namely (paeonol, coumarin, cinnamic alcohol, cinnamic acid, paeoniflorin, and amygdalin) in Guizhi Fuling capsule and tablet samples. The influence of the key chromatographic parameters for the separation purposes was evaluated. The optimal column was Trefoil CEL1 column. The optimal mobile phase was a gradient mixture of carbon dioxide and methanol at flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The back pressure of the system was set to 1.38 × 10⁷  Pa and the temperature to 45°C. The six compounds were separated within 11 min by the proposed ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method with satisfactory resolution. Method validation confirmed that the procedure is accurate with the recovery rates from 87.04 to 104.30%, intraday precision values less than 4.81% and interday precision less than 5.22%, and linear with R² higher than 0.9967. Therefore, this work provides a simple and novel method for the simultaneous analysis of six compounds in Guizhi Fuling capsule and tablet samples.

Separation and determination of amygdalin and unnatural neoamygdalin in natural food supplements by HPLC-DAD

This work is focused on separation and determination of amygdalin and its unnatural form neoamygdalin in natural food supplements. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with a high-stability silica-based column with C₁₈ functional group has been used for solving this problem. The effect of the mobile phase composition as well as the column temperature on the separation of the amygdalin epimers has been investigated. Isocratic elution using a mobile phase composed of 0.05% aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile achieved the required separation within 17 min. Under optimum chromatographic conditions, the developed method was validated and was applied for the determination of amygdalin epimers in natural food supplements containing apricot or peach kernels. A simple extraction method using methanol as an extractant supported by an ultrasonic bath was used with recovery in the range of 94.8% to 104.3%. The limit of detection and limit of quantification values for R-amygdalin were 0.13 mg/L and 0.40 mg/L, respectively. The developed method proved to be precise with the intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation values less than 2.23%.

Comparative analysis of the main active components and hypoglycemic effects after the compatibility of Scutellariae Radix and Coptidis Rhizoma

In this study, a rapid and highly sensitive ultra high performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method with the mobile phase of acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid was established and successfully applied to comparatively analyze main active components after their compatibility. Besides, the effects of Scutellariae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma and combined extracts on type 2 diabetic rats induced by high-fat diet along with low dose of streptozocin were investigated. Under the optimized chromatographic conditions, good separation of seven target components was achieved within 12 min. All calibration curves exhibited good linearity (R²  ≥ 0.999). The relative standard deviation of precision, repeatability and stability varied from 0.69 to 2.23, 0.98 to 2.56, and 0.92 to 2.57%, respectively. The recovery ranged from 91.11 to 105.35%. The contents of seven active components were notably reduced after compatibility; however, the hypoglycemic effect of combined extracts was stronger than single drug by decreasing the activities of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, glucose 6-phosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and increasing the activities of glucokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase. Accordingly, the established analytical method was accurate and sensitive enough for quantitative evaluation of seven investigated compounds. Moreover, the combined extract had definite effects on type 2 diabetes through multiple components against multiple targets.