ABSTRACT
Objective To develop and fully validate an UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of six active in?gredients in Rhodiola extract including salidroside,rhodiosin,rhodionin,herbacetin,kaempferol and quercetin. Methods The chro?matographic separation of the analytes was achieved by using Zorbax Eclipse plus C18 column(2.1 mm×100 mm,3.5μm). The mobile phase consisted of 0.2%aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile. Analytes were separated using a linear gradient with a flow rate of 0.4 ml/min. The column temperature was set at 25℃. The mass spectrometric conditions were electrospray negative ionization(ESI)and the scan?ning mode was multi reaction monitoring(MRM). Results The calibration curves of the six active ingredients were linear over 10-20000,10-4000,10-4000,5-2000,10-2000,and 5-2000 ng/ml concentration ranges,respectively. The RSD of the instrument precision was within 3.31%. The current assay was stable and reproducible in quantification of all analytes with RSD within 5.07%and 4.05%,respectively. The average recovery of all analytes was in a range from 99.27%to 108.91%,with an acceptable RSD of no more than 4.92%. Conclusion The UPLC-MS/MS method could be successfully applied to simultaneously quantifying six major active in?gredients in Rhodiola extract with the acceptable specificity,sensitivity and reproducibility.