[Qualitative and quantitative analysis of Evodiae Fructus based on the UPLC technology]

Area of Science:

• Pharmacognosy
• Analytical Chemistry
• Traditional Chinese Medicine

Background:

• Evodiae Fructus is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine with complex chemical constituents.
• Establishing a reliable quality control method is crucial for ensuring its therapeutic efficacy and safety.
• Existing analytical methods may lack the specificity or efficiency required for comprehensive quality assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) method for simultaneous chromatographic fingerprint analysis and multi-component quantification of Evodiae Fructus.
• To identify and quantify key active compounds within Evodiae Fructus samples.
• To establish a robust method for quality control and authentication of Evodiae Fructus.

Main Methods:

• Development of a UPLC method utilizing a C18 column with a gradient elution of formic acid-acetonitrile and formic acid-water.
• Detection at 320 nm, with dehydroevodiamine as the reference peak for fingerprint analysis.
• Validation of the method for simultaneous determination of nine identified compounds, assessing linearity, recovery, and precision (RSD).

Main Results:

• The UPLC method achieved full separation of Evodiae Fructus constituents within 20 minutes.
• A total of 24 common peaks were detected in the chromatographic fingerprint of 29 samples, with 10 identified compounds.
• Fingerprint similarity analysis showed high consistency (similarity > 0.9) in 19 out of 29 samples.
• Simultaneous quantification of nine components demonstrated good linearity, high average recoveries (95.99%-104.0%), and low relative standard deviations (RSDs, 0.80%-3.0%).

Conclusions:

• The established UPLC method is specific, efficient, and feasible for both chromatographic fingerprinting and simultaneous multi-component quantification of Evodiae Fructus.
• This method provides a reliable tool for the quality control and standardization of Evodiae Fructus.
• The developed method offers significant advantages over existing techniques in terms of specificity, separation efficiency, and simplicity.