Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major constituents in Chinese medicinal preparation Dan-Lou tablet by ultra high performance liquid chromatography/diode-array detector/quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid ultra high performance liquid chromatography/diode-array detector/quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–DAD–QTOF) method and a ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detector (UPLC–DAD) method were developed for qualitative and quantitative analyses of the major chemical constituents in Dan-Lou tablet. Sixty-eight compounds including flavonoids, phenolic acids, tanshinones, protostane triterpenoids, lactones, and paeoniflorins were unambiguously or tentatively identified by comparing their retention times and accurate mass measurement in 40 min with references or literature data. Among them, 19 compounds: gallic acid, danshensu, 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde, 3′-hydroxy puerarin, puerarin, 3′-methoxy puerarin, mirificin, daidzin, paeoniflorin, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, naringin, genistin, rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acid B, salvianolic acid A, formononetin, calycosin, cryptotanshinone and tanshinone IIA were further quantified in 30 min as marker substances. It was found that the calibration curves for all analytes showed good linearity (R2 > 0.9997) within the test ranges. The overall limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.0073–0.34 μg/mL and 0.022–1.04 μg/mL, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for intra- and inter-day precisions were below 1.90% and 2.85%, respectively. The results of repeatability were less than 2.74%. The sample was stable for at least 48 h. The mean recovery rates ranged from 95.5% to 105% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 2.96%. The results showed that the developed quantitative method was linear, sensitive, and precise for quality control of Dan-Lou tablet.