The comparative research on constituents of Radix Aconiti and its processing by HPLC quadrupole TOF-MS

Based upon the regulations stipulated by the State Food and Drug Administration of China, only the processed, detoxified tubers and roots of Aconitum are allowed to be administered orally, used in clinical decoctions and adopted as raw materials for pharmaceutical manufacturing, so the processing principle of preparation of Radix Aconiti is important for ensuring the Radix Aconiti praeparata quality. A simple approach was described for HPLC-Q-TOF-MS screening and identification of many of the aconitine alkaloids present in unprocessed Radix Aconiti and Radix Aconiti praeparata. To compare their fingerprints, the processing principle of preparation of Radix Aconiti was developed. Twenty-nine compounds and 26 compounds were assigned to aconitine alkaloids and tentatively identified by comparing accurate mass and fragments information with that of the authentic standards or by mass spectrometry analysis and retrieving the reference literature. The nonester alkaloids were almost the same. The diester diterpene alkaloids were decreased, the monoester-diterpene alkaloids were increased and lipo-alkaloids decreased obviously in the processing of the preparation. These transformed components could be regarded as potential chemical markers that can be used to distinguish between raw and processed herbs. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.