Development and validation of HPLC coupled with triple quadrupole MS for the simultaneous determination of six phenolic acids, six flavonoids, and a lignan in Polygonum capitatum

Polygonum capitatum, a traditional Miao medicinal plant, has significant effects on the treatment of urinary system infections and pyelonephritis. However, no study about the comprehensive quality evaluation of P. capitatum has been reported. In this contribution, a rapid and validated method based on HPLC coupled with triple quadrupole MS was established for the simultaneous determination of six active flavonoids, six phenolic acids, and a lignan in extracts of P. capitatum. These compounds were separated within 10 min on a C18 analytical column with gradient elution. All analyses were performed on an Agilent XDB C18 column (2.1 × 100 mm, 3.5 μm) with a linear gradient elution of acetonitrile/water. The proposed method was applied to analyze 15 batches of samples with acceptable linearity (r(2) , 0.9923-0.9992), precisions (RSD, 1.0-3.0%), repeatability (RSD, 2.0-3.2%), stability (RSD, 2.2-3.2%), and recovery (RSD, 2.1-3.6%) of the 13 compounds. These results demonstrated that this presented method was effective and reliable for the comprehensive quality evaluation of P. capitatum. Moreover, our study can provide chemical evidence to reveal the material basis of its therapeutic effects.