Separation, identification, and quantification of active constituents in Fructus Psoraleae by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV, ion trap mass spectrometry, and electrochemical detection

The qualitative and quantitative analysis of active constituents in Fructus Psoraleae is presented by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with different detections. Extracts of Fructus Psoraleae were examined by HPLC with ion trap mass spectrometry (IT-MS) and 18 major compounds of coumarins, benzofuran glycosides, flavonoids, and meroterpene were identified. The determination of four major constituents including bavachin, isobavachalcone, bavachinin, and bakuchiol was accomplished by HPLC with UV, MS, and electrochemical detection (ECD). These methods were evaluated for a number of validation characteristics (repeatability, LOD, calibration range, and recovery). ECD obtained a high sensitivity for analysis of the four components; MS provided a high selectivity and sensitivity for determination of bavachin, isobavachalcone, and bavachinin in negative-ion mode. After optimization of the methods, separation, identification. and quantification of the four components in Fructus Psoraleae were comprehensively tested by HPLC with UV, MS, and ECD.