Study on Characteristic Components and Quality Evaluation Methods of Lime-dried Fritillaria Thunbergii Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry and Chemometrics

OBJECTIVE  To study the characteristic alkaloidal components in lime-dried Fritillaria thunbergii (LDFT) and to develop a specialized quality evaluation method.

METHODS  HPLC-QTOF-MS was used to analyze the composition of 19 batches of herbs, Fritillaria thunbergii pieces, and LDFT that derived from the same batch of fresh Fritillaria thunbergii. Data were processed using software such as Agilent MassHunter Profinder 10.0 and Mass Profiler Professional 15.1.

RESULTS  The results of principal component analysis showed significant differences in the content of alkaloids between LDFT, Fritillaria thunbergii pieces, and herbs. The partial least squares discriminant analysis score plot showed that the 3 types of samples can be clearly differentiated. Compounds with VIP>1 were screened as candidate characterization components. Structural analysis was conducted on the significantly different characteristic components, and 7 distinctive compounds of LDFT were preliminarily identified. The peak area ratios of characteristic components P5/P2 and P11/P2 could distinguish LDFT from the other 2 types of samples. These ratios could be used to establish a specialized quality evaluation method for LDFT.

CONCLUSION  The research identified characteristic alkaloid components of LDFT and established a specialized quality evaluation method, laying the foundation for setting standards for the distinctive features of LDFT.