Simultaneous Determination of Six Chromones in Saposhnikoviae Radix via Quantitative Analysis of Multicomponents by Single Marker

Advances in the chemical constituents, pharmacological properties and clinical applications of TCM formula Yupingfeng San

Yupingfeng San (YPFS) is a famous and commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, respiratory tract infections, and pneumonia in China. It is composed of three Chinese herbs, including Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma and Saposhnikoviae Radix. In this review, the relevant references on YPFS were searched in the Web of Science, PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and other databases. Literatures published from 2000 to 2022 were screened and summarized. The constituents in YPFS could be classified into nine groups according to their structures, including flavonoids, saponins, essential oils, coumarins, lactones, amino acids, organic acids, saccharides, chromones and others. The importance of chemical constituents in YPFS were demonstrated for specific pathological processes including immunoregulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and pulmonary diseases. This article systematically reviewed the up-to-date information on its chemical compositions, pharmacology and safety, that could be used as essential data and reference for clinical applications of YPFS.

The Content Variation of Four Active Components in Amygdalus persica L. during Different Harvesting Periods

In this study, a quantitative method for the content determination of rutin, 5-O-coumaroylquinic acid methyl ester, chlorogenic acid butyl ester, and kaempferol in Amygdalus persica L. flowers during different harvest periods was established to investigate its various rules and determine the optimal harvesting period. The determination was performed on the XTERRA MS C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution and acetonitrile (gradient elution) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. In combination with other validation data, including precision, stability, and recovery tests, this method demonstrated good reliability and sensitivity. The results showed that the contents of rutin, 5-O-coumaroylquinic acid methyl ester, chlorogenic acid butyl ester, and kaempferol in A. persica flowers during different harvest periods were quite different, and the content in samples at the early blooming stage was the highest. The method is simple, accurate, and rapid for determining the contents of four active ingredients in A. persica flowers.

Quality Evaluation of Pulsatilla chinensis Total Saponin Extracts via Quantitative Analysis of Multicomponents by Single Marker Method Combined with Systematic Quantified Fingerprint Method

Chinese medicine extracts are complex in composition. The combination of the quantitative analysis of multicomponents by single marker (QAMS) and the systematic quantified fingerprint method (SQFM) can be used for better quantitative analysis. The contents of Pulsatilla saponin D, Pulsatilla saponin A, Pulsatilla saponin F, and oleanolic acid 3-o-β-d-pyranoglucosyl-(1⟶4)-β-d-pyranoglucosyl-(1⟶3)-α-l-pyridine rhamnosyl-(1⟶2)-α-l-pyranosine arabinoside (B9) were determined by HPLC and QAMS. The methodological verification was carried out. The relative correction factor (RCF) was calculated, and the reproducibility of the RCF was investigated. The experimental results of the external standard method (ESM) and the QAMS were compared. Meanwhile, the fingerprint of the extract of Pulsatilla chinensis total saponins was established and the quality of the extract was evaluated by SQFM and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The results showed that there was no significant difference between the QAMS and ESM. QAMS could be used for the rapid determination of various saponins in the extract of Pulsatilla chinensis. SQFM and HCA could objectively and comprehensively reflect the overall quality difference of total saponin extract of Pulsatilla chinensis. Therefore, QAMS and SQFM could provide a more convenient and effective selection for the quality evaluation of total saponin extract from this plant.

Exploitation of HPLC Analytical Method for Simultaneous Determination of Six Principal Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Oviductus Ranae Based on Quantitative Analysis of Multi-Components by Single-Marker (QAMS)

As one of the featured products in northeast China, Oviductus Ranae has been widely used as a nutritious food, which contains a variety of bioactive unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs). It is necessary to establish a scientific and reliable determination method of UFA contents in Oviductus Ranae. In this work, six principal UFAs in Oviductus Ranae, namely eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (ARA), linoleic acid (LA) and oleic acid (OA), were identified using UPLC-MS/MS. The UFAs identified in Oviductus Ranae were further separated based on the optimized RP-HPLC conditions. Quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker (QAMS) method was implemented in content determination of EPA, ALA, DHA, ARA and OA, where LA was used as the internal standard. The experiments based on Taguchi design verified the robustness of the QAMS method on different HPLC instruments and chromatographic columns. The QAMS and external standard method (ESM) were used to calculate the UFA content of 15 batches of Oviductus Ranae samples from different regions. The relative error (r < 0.73%) and cosine coefficient showed that the two methods obtained similar contents, and the method validations met the requirements. The results showed that QAMS can comprehensively and effectively control the quality of UFAs in Oviductus Ranae which provides new ideas and solutions for studying the active components in Oviductus Ranae.

Evaluation of Two Parts of Lithocarpus polystachyus Rehd. from Different Chinese Areas by Multicomponent Content Determination and Pattern Recognition

The purpose of this work is to establish a new method using high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) with chemometrics analysis to determine the content of catechin, isoquercetin, astragalin, phloridzin, trilobatin, and phloretin for one flavanol and five flavonoids, filter out the key compounds, and evaluate the quality of 26 batches of tender leaves and flower spikes of Lithocarpus polystachyus Rehd. (LP) from ten areas in China. The result showed that the HPLC-DAD method had excellent performance for accurate quantification analysis. S3 (tender leaf from Lushan, Sichuan) had the highest contents for six measured chemicals with trilobatin content of up to 27.82% in dry weight. S22 (flower spike from Liangping, Chongqing) had the highest content of phloridzin (up to 7.28%). All samples were divided into three types based on spatial distribution using principal component analysis. The result showed that the tender leaves and flower spikes from the same areas had many similar properties, and there were significant differences between the samples from different regions. Furthermore, phloridzin and trilobatin were identified as chemical markers for quality evaluation of two parts with different tender leaves and flower spikes of LP from geographical areas by orthogonal partial least squares discrimination analysis. These results will be helpful to establish an effective and comprehensive evaluation system of the development and utilization of LP resources.