Determination of scutellarin in Erigeron breviscapus extract by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

A quantitative assay for scutellarin by LC–MS–MS (negative ion mode) was developed. The scutellarin was extracted from dry Erigeron breviscapus. Significant ion suppression was observed, which could be eliminated by increasing the turboionspray interface temperature to 350°C and by 1000-fold dilution of the extract with solvent. The calibration curve of scutellarin showed excellent linearity over a wide concentration range (0.01–100 μg/ml) (r=0.998), and the limit of detection was 15 pg/ml using a 10-μl injection volume. The analysis time was 4 min/sample.