A feasible UHPLC‐MS/MS method for concurrent quantification of 10 bioactive principles in Aquilaria leaf tea by the multiple reaction monitoring analytical mode

• Published in: Phytochemical analysis Vol. 31; no. 5; pp. 583 - 593
• Main Authors: Kuo, Ping‐Chung, Li, Yue‐Chiun, Yang, Mei‐Lin, Tzen, Jason T.C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2020
• Subjects: accuracy; Acetonitrile; agarwood tea; Analytical chemistry; Analytical methods; Beverages; Biological activity; Food processing; Food production; Formic acid; Ions; Leaves; Linearity; Liquid chromatography; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Mathematical analysis; Monitoring; multiple reaction monitoring; precision; Principles; Quality control; Tea; accuracy; multiple reaction monitoring; precision; agarwood tea
• ISSN: 0958-0344; 1099-1565
• DOI: 10.1002/pca.2923

Introduction Recently, the fresh leaves of Aquilaria trees have been processed as food products such as agarwood tea due to its beneficial medicinal properties. However, there have not been any reported analytical methods to quantify the bioactive principles in the processed products. Objective A rapid and sensitive ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with electrospray ionisation (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 10 bioactive components in Aquilaria leaf tea. Methods The UHPLC‐MS/MS was used for quantification operated in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The optimised chromatographic parameters were conducted on a Shim‐pack XR‐ODS II column and mobile phases consisted of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water. Results All the samples were analysed within 20 min. The established method showed excellent linearity (R2 > 0.9988), good repeatability with all the relative standard deviation values lower than 3.27%, and satisfactory recovery (79.72–119.22%). The matrix effect factors ranged from 87.65 to 97.27% in the examination. The developed method was applied to the determination of 10 bioactive principles (1–10) in six different Aquilaria leaf tea samples. Among the analytes, mangiferin (1) and iriflophenone 2‐O‐α‐l‐rhamnopyranoside (2) were the most abundant compounds in the extracts of Aquilaria leaf tea, and it indicated that these biotech products may possess laxative effects. Conclusion This proposed method appeared to be a useful tool for the quality control of commercial products of Aquilaria leaf tea and thus provided an analytical reference for herbal drinks. The present research developed a feasible UPLC‐MS/MS method to quantify bioactive principles in Aquilaria leaves tea. A reliable quantitative method with rapid, high precision and accuracy, and a standard protocol for controlling the quality of agarwood tea were illustrated in this study.