Abstract
YANG XIN® is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formulation used for nervous fatigue and consists of a proprietary blend of concentrated extracts from eighteen plants. In this study, liquid chromatography coupled with a quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometer (LC-QTOF-MS) was used for identification of characteristic chemical markers from the eighteen plants present in the YANG XIN® formulation. LC-MS chromatograms of each plant were compared, the identities of the unique peaks were confirmed, and the structures elucidated by comparing the mass spectra and retention times with those of the reference compounds. The selected chemical markers were ophiopogonanone A, sibiricose A5, poricoic acid A, α-asarone, formononetin, ginsenoside Rf, swertisin, racemic mixture of 3-butylidenephthalide, schizandrol A, α-amyrin, 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, cistanoside D, polygonatine A, forsythoside A, neoxanthin, batatasin III, pinusolide and armepavine. LC-QTOF-MS method was validated to quantify the chemical markers in the three samples of the formulation by constructing a calibration curve for each individual marker. The linear range was investigated up to an analyte concentration of 62.5 µg/ml. The average amount of the eighteen chemical markers was found to be within the range of 0.02 – 933 ug/g in the TCM formulation samples.