Quantification and holistic quality evaluation of Wulingzhi extract by UHPLC–Q‐Orbitrap–HRMS coupled with chemometric approaches

The excreta of Trogopterus xanthipes ("Wulingzhi" in Chinese, WLZ) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine. It has been used for centuries to treat amenorrhea, menstruation and postpartum abdominal pain. However, a systematic quality study on WLZ chemical markers has yet to be conducted. This study aimed to establish an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a hybrid quadruple extraction Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS) method for the simultaneous quantitative determination of 20 compounds in 53 batches of WLZ; the method rapidly and sensitively determined the 20 plant- or animal-derived compounds. Firstly, the proposed approach was validated to satisfy the method's linearity, detection limits, precision, repeatability, stability and accuracy. Subsequently, multivariate analysis was used to identify correlations between the samples and feed, processing and regions. Finally, this method was used to further identify chemical markers for quality control in combination with chemometrics. This is the first report on pinusolide, betaine, hippuric acid, 4-oxorentinoic acid, 15-methoxypinusolidic acid and 4-oxoisotrentinoin in WLZ; the quality of WLZ became homogeneous after processing with vinegar (V-WLZ). Moreover, we screened for potential component markers, including uridine, allantoin, amentoflavone, hippuric acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, pinusolide, quercetin and kaempferol. These results were practical and efficient for the chemical clarification of WLZ and V-WLZ.