Analysis of principal components and fragmentation patterns of Tinosporae Radix by ultra high-performance liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry.

Abstract

In this study, ultra high-performance liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry was employed to characterize and identify the chemical constituents in the total extract of Tinosporae Radix. Chromatographic separation of the total extract was carried out on a Waters chromatographic column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) with a gradient elution program using a mobile phase system consisting of 0.1% aqueous formic acid (v/v, solvent A) and acetonitrile (solvent B). Mass spectrometric detection was conducted in both positive and negative ion modes. A total of 43 chemical components were successfully identified, including 29 alkaloids and 14 terpenoids. Furthermore, the mass fragmentation behaviors and characteristic fragment ions of protoberberine isoquinoline alkaloids, aporphine alkaloids and diterpenes were systematically analyzed. This study provides reliable reference data for the identification and compositional analysis of chemical constituents in Tinosporae Radix and its homologous medicinal herbs. The findings lay a solid foundation for exploring the pharmacodynamic material basis and chemical profiling of this traditional Chinese medicinal herb, supporting its quality evaluation and further pharmacological mechanism research.