Fingerprint Analysis of Daturae Flos Using Rapid Resolution Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Combined with Stoichiometry

A fingerprinting approach was developed by means of rapid resolution liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (RRLC/ESI-MS) for the quality assessment of Daturae Flos (flower of Datura metel), a widely used traditional herbal medicine known as its toxic tropane alkaloids. The separation was performed on a reversed-phase C18 column with solid phase particles of 1.8 µm diameter by linear gradient elution. The developed method provided good precision, reproducibility and stability and the validated method was successfully used for fingerprint analysis of Daturae Flos samples and its adulterants, including the flowers of D. innoxia, D. stramonium, and Brugmansia arborea. Chemometrics analysis such as hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to establish and evaluate the fingerprints. Results showed that Daturae Flos samples could be authenticated clearly from its adulterant samples and different species could be divided into different groups by RRLC/ESI-MS fingerprinting and HCA. Therefore, the established fingerprinting approach in combination with chemometric analysis provides a flexible and reliable method for quality assessment and species differentiation for Datura genus.