Determination of Aristolochic Acid A in Health Food by UHPLC-MS/MS

OBJECTIVE To establish a UHPLC-MS/MS method for the determination of aristolochic acid A in health food. METHODS The separation and analysis was performed on a Zorbax Eclipse Plus C₁₈ column(2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.8 μm). The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.1% fomic acid containing 10 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate(60∶40). The flow rate was 0.2 mL·min^-1. Electrospray ionization(ESI) source was applied and operated in the positive mode. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode with the transitions of m/z 359→324 was used to quantify aristolochic acid A. RESULTS The assay linearity of aristolochic acid A was confirmed over the range 2-200 ng·mL^-1. The average recovery of aristolochic acid A was 105.3% and RSD was 0.8%. The detection limit was 0.2 μg·kg^-1. CONCLUSION The method is proved to be specific, sensitive and accurate. Therefore, it can be used to detect aristolochic acid A in health food.