Identification of Ginsenosides in Panax quinquefolium by LC-MS

An HPLC-APCI-MS method for the identification of ginsenosides in Panax quinquefolium has been developed. HPLC-APCI-MS could effectively identify ocotillol, protopanaxadiol, protopanaxatriol and oleanane-type ginsenosides in a single MS experiment since [M-H]− ions and characteristic thermal degradation ions of ginsenosides could be simultaneously observed under negative and positive ionization conditions. Nine ocotillol-type ginsenosides including 24(R)-pseudoginsenoside F11 were firstly identified and a total of 30 ginsenosides were identified in Panax quinquefolium. The ginsenoside profile differences between Chinese and American P. quinquefolium were investigated by HPLC-APCI-MS.