Chemical Differentiation of Three Saxifragaceae Medicinal Plants for Traditional Chinese Medicine "Yan-tuo" Using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

In order to evaluate chemical consistency of three original medicinal plants of "Yan-tuo" from different species and habitats, a rapid, sensitive and efficient ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF/MS) analysis was established to overall characterize the chemical profiles and effectively reveal the differentiatiation of chemical components of three herbal medicines: Rodgersia sambucifolia Hemsl., R. pinnata Franch, and R. aesculifolia Batalin. Our findings demonstrated that chromatographic profiles (chemical constituents) existed difference among the three studied species. The UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF/MS method provided an overall research direction of chemical differentiation of three kinds of "Yan-tuo" and laid a foundation for the subsequent comparative studies on biological activity for samples from different sources.