Qualitative and Quantitative Assessments of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Diode Array Detection and Hybrid Ion Trap-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Dual roles have been widely disclosed for Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata (Chinese name: Fuzi) by acting as an effective herbal medicine accompanied with high toxicity risk and narrow therapeutic range. Aconite alkaloids, also known as diterpenoid alkaloids (DAs), have been proved to be primary therapeutic as well as toxic material basis of Fuzi. In the present study, we aim to characterize qualitative profile along with quantitative features of DAs in Fuzi, which could benefit the quality control of Fuzi as well as its safe medication in clinic. Chromatographic fingerprinting was achieved using 12 batches of crude materials collected from different habitats (similarities >0.9) by hyphenating liquid chromatography (LC) with diode array detection. Simultaneous determination of six primary DAs, namely benzoylmesaconine, benzoylaconine, benzoylhypaconine, mesaconine, aconitine and hypaconitine, was also carried out. The developed method was systematically validated and successfully applied for quantitative characterization. Significant variations were observed regarding the contents of those six analytes among different raw materials. A total of 99 DAs were detected and characterized, including 9 unambiguous identities and 77 putative assignments, as well as 13 unknown compounds, from the representative extract by LC coupled with hybrid ion trap-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The findings obtained herein could favor in-depth understanding of the chemical composition of DAs and the quality control of Fuzi.