Simultaneous Quantification of Seven Bioactive Flavonoids in Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium by Ultra-Fast Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Introduction Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (CRP) is a commonly‐used traditional Chinese medicine with flavonoids as the major bioactive components. Nevertheless, the contents of the flavonoids in CRP of different sources may significantly vary affecting their therapeutic effects. Thus, the setting up of a reliable and comprehensive quality assessment method for flavonoids in CRP is necessary. Objective To set up a rapid and sensitive ultra‐fast liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC‐MS/MS) method for simultaneous quantification of seven bioactive flavonoids in CRP. Methods A UFLC‐MS/MS method coupled to ultrasound‐assisted extraction was developed for simultaneous separation and quantification of seven flavonoids including hesperidin, neohesperidin, naringin, narirutin, tangeretin, nobiletin and sinensetin in 16 batches of CRP samples from different sources in China. Results The established method showed good linearity for all analytes with correlation coefficient (R) over 0.9980, together with satisfactory accuracy, precision and reproducibility. Furthermore, the recoveries at the three spiked levels were higher than 89.71% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 5.19%. The results indicated that the contents of seven bioactive flavonoids in CRP varied significantly among different sources. Among the samples under study, hesperidin showed the highest contents in 16 samples ranged from 27.50 to 86.30 mg/g, the contents of hesperidin in CRP‐15 and CRP‐9 were 27.50 and 86.30 mg/g, respectively, while, the amount of narirutin was too low to be measured in some samples. Conclusion This study revealed that the developed UFLC‐MS/MS method was simple, sensitive and reliable for simultaneous quantification of multi‐components in CRP with potential perspective for quality control of complex matrices. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. An UFLC‐MS/MS method was developed for 7 flavonoids in Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium. The validated method gave satisfactory LODs, LOQs and recoveries for targeted analytes. The isomers (hesperidin and neohesperidin, naringin and narirutin) were identification and quantification in CRP.