Fingerprint analysis of Psoralea corylifolia L. by HPLC and LC–MS

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for fingerprint analysis of Psoralea corylifolia. Liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MSn) technique was first employed to identify the components of the fingerprint. The samples were separated with an Alltima C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) by linear gradient elution using water–acetic acid (A; 100:0.1, v/v) and acetonitrile (B; 0 min, 40%; 15 min, 50%; 35 min, 60%; 45 min, 70%; 55 min, 80%; and maintained for 5 min) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and detector wavelength at 245 nm. A standard procedure was developed for HPLC fingerprint analysis. Average chromatogram of 10 batches of P. corylifolia L. from Sichuan and Henan Provinces, PR China, which has been considered as the original and genuine herbal medicine for a long time, was first established as the characteristic fingerprint. There are 12 common peaks in this fingerprint. Ten of these common peaks were identified by MS data. This profile was then used to identify and assess the differences among the herb grown in various areas of China. The HPLC fingerprint analysis is specific and may serve for quality identification and comprehensive evaluation of P. corylifolia.