High‐performance liquid chromatography–electrospray mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of multiple active components in Sheng‐Mai San, a Prescription of traditional Chinese medicine

An advanced and reliable HPLC‐MS method was developed for the simultaneous quantification of eight active components (ginsenosides Rf, Rg 2 , Rg 3 , Rh 1 and Rh 2 , gomisin A, methylophioponanone B and schizandrin) in Sheng‐Mai San, a traditional Chinese medicine. The elution of multiple components was performed using a C 18 column with stepwise gradient elution. The detection of individual analytes was monitored by electrospray MS scanning from 300 to 1000 m/z in the positive ion mode, with the limits of detection of these components ranging from 0.06 to 1 µg/mL at a signal‐to‐noise ratio of ≥5. The intra‐ and inter‐day accuracies ranged from 95.1 to 104.4%, and the overall precision was less than 9.3%. The recoveries of the analytes were ≥96.6%. The method was validated and found suitable for the determination of active components present in Sheng‐Mai San preparation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.