Recent developments in qualitative and quantitative analysis of phytochemical constituents and their metabolites using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

Over the past few years, the applications of liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC–MS) in natural product analysis have been dramatically growing because of the increasingly improved separation and detection capabilities of LC–MS instruments. In particular, novel high-resolution hybrid instruments linked to ultra-high-performance LC and the hyphenations of LC–MS with other separation or analytical techniques greatly aid unequivocal identification and highly sensitive quantification of natural products at trace concentrations in complex matrices. With the aim of providing an up-to-date overview of LC–MS applications on the analysis of plant-derived compounds, papers published within the latest years (2007–2012) involving qualitative and quantitative analysis of phytochemical constituents and their metabolites are summarized in the present review. After briefly describing the general characteristics of natural products analysis, the most remarkable features of LC–MS and sample preparation techniques, the present paper mainly focuses on screening and characterization of phenols (including flavonoids), alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, coumarins, lignans, and miscellaneous compounds in respective herbs and biological samples, as well as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions using tandem mass spectrometer. Chemical fingerprinting analysis using LC–MS is also described. Meanwhile, instrumental peculiarities and methodological details are accentuated.