Qualitative analysis of the chemical constituents in Hedyotis diffusa by HPLC-TOF-MS

A high performance liquid chromatography–time-of-flight–mass spectrometry (HPLC-TOF-MS) method was developed for analysing the chemical constituents in Hedyotis diffusa, which is widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the field of cancer treatment. The compounds were identified either by comparing the retention time and mass spectrometry data with those of reference compounds or by analysing mass spectrometry data and retrieving reference literature. Among the detected chromatographic peaks, nine components were unambiguously identified, most of which were iridoids. This study is expected to provide an effective and reliable pattern for comprehensive and systematic characterisation of the complex TCM systems.