GC-MS-Based Quantification and Chemometric Discrimination of Multi-Marker Profiles in Carthami Flos-Based...

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Analytical Chemistry
• Traditional Medicine

Background:

• Pharmacopuncture, a key component of traditional Korean medicine, requires robust quality assessment for clinical reliability.
• Chemical consistency and accurate profiling of marker compounds are crucial for ensuring the efficacy and safety of pharmacopuncture formulations.
• Carthami Flos (CF) and its combination with deer antler (CFC) are commonly used in pharmacopuncture, necessitating standardized quality control methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a quantitative gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) approach for profiling key fatty acid marker compounds in CF and CFC formulations.
• To evaluate the feasibility of this GC-MS method for the comparative quality assessment and discrimination of CF and CFC pharmacopuncture.
• To identify and quantify specific fatty acids (palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid) in CF and CFC.

Main Methods:

• Utilized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode for sensitive and selective quantification of four fatty acids.
• Employed retention times and mass spectral fragment ions for unambiguous identification of analytes.
• Applied univariate analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) for statistical evaluation and sample discrimination.

Main Results:

• Successfully detected and quantified palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, and linoleic acid in both CF and CFC formulations.
• The SIM mode effectively differentiated structurally similar fatty acids, with linoleic acid being the most abundant.
• Principal component analysis (PCA) clearly discriminated between CF and CFC samples, explaining 97.56% of the variance.

Conclusions:

• The developed GC-MS-based multi-marker profiling method is effective for quantitative comparison of CF and CFC pharmacopuncture.
• This approach enables robust discrimination between CF and CFC formulations, supporting quality control in traditional Korean medicine.
• The study demonstrates the utility of GC-MS for ensuring the chemical consistency and quality of complex herbal formulations.