Identification and Quantification of Chlorogenic Acids from the Root Bark of <i>Acanthopanax gracilistylus</i> by UHPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify and quantify the chlorogenic acids (CGAs) from the root bark of <i>Acanthopanax gracilistylus</i>, which is conventionally regarded as a tonic in folk Chinese Traditional medicine. The effective methods for identification and quantification analysis of CGAs were developed based on ultra high performance liquid chromatography-Q-exactive orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap MS) in parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) and selected reaction monitoring (SIM), which showed high sensitivity and resolution for screening and quantifying compounds. The root bark of <i>A. gracilistylus</i> was extracted under ultrasonication with 70% methanol. Ultimately, a for total of 70 CGAs, 64 of these were tentatively identified for the first time. Moreover, a methodological study of seven kinds of CGAs was carried out. The proposed procedure was optimized and validated in terms of selectivity, linearity of analytical curves (<i>r</i> ² > 0.990), accuracy (recovery range from 96.7 to 105%), and repeatability (relative standard deviation <5%). Then it was applied to determine the content of the CGAs in <i>A. gracilistylus</i> roots from 66 of different batches. The total CGAs was quantified in a range between 2.150 and 33.51 mg/g, which could be considered as excellent source of natural bioactive compound. The result was extremely useful for understanding the bioactive substance and quality control of <i>A. gracilistylus</i> in depth.