Ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector and quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry coupled with discriminant analysis to evaluate Angelicae pubescentis radix from different regions

A rapid and effective method was developed for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major chemical constituents in Angelicae pubescentis radix by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. The chromatographic separation was achieved on an ACQUITY UHPLC BEH C-18 column (2.1 x 100 mm, 1.7 mu m). Nine phenolic acids, 30 coumarins, bisabolangelone, and adenosine were identified by quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry. All calibration curves exhibited good linearity (r > 0.9996) within the linear ranges. The relative standard deviation calculated for intraday and interday precision, stability, and accuracy were <5%. The mean recovery ranged from 95.8 to 106%. The overall limits of detection and quantification were 0.025-0.160 and 0.100-0.560 mu g/mL, respectively. Discriminant analysis was investigated as a method for evaluating the quality of the samples with 100% correction in their classification. The results demonstrated that the developed method could successfully be used to differentiate samples from different regions and could be a helpful tool for detection and confirmation of the quality of traditional Chinese medicines.