Simultaneous determination of five triterpenoid saponins in different parts of Aralia elata by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A method was developed for the simultaneous determination of congmunoside II, congmunoside IV, congmunoside V, congmunoside X and congmuyenoside II in different parts of Aralia elata by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The chromatographic separation was performed on an Alltima C18 analytical column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) using the mobile phases of acetonitrile and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid aqueous solution with gradient elution. The separated compounds were detected in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)) mode via positive electrospray ionization (ESI+). The linear ranges of congmunoside II, congmunoside IV, congmunoside V, congmunoside X and congmuyenoside II were 0.17-108 microg/L, 0.53-329 microg/L, 0.77-480 microg/L, 0.77-480 microg/L and 0.82-510 microg/L, respectively. The extraction recoveries varied from 99.0% to 100.2%. The developed method is rapid, accurate and reproducible, and is successfully utilized as a quality control method for Aralia elata. The results indicate that the order of contents of these five saponins in different parts of Aralia elata is root bark > leaves > seeds > buds.