In Situ Analysis for Herbal Pieces of Aconitum Plants by Using Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

In this study, an extend application was developed to in situ analyze the herbal pieces of Aconitum plants by Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS). Nearly all aconitine-type alkaloids can be desorbed and ionized in this method, including diester diterpenoid aconitines (DDAs), monoester diterpenoid aconitines (MDAs) and some other diterpenoid aconitines. The spectra of in situ analysis for the herbal pieces of aconitum plants are similar with that of their extracts. Radix Aconiti and Radix Aconiti Kusnezoffii can be distinguished from each other by the intensity differences of character fragment ions from MDAs, such as m/z 586, 572, and 556. The qualified and unqualified herbal pieces can be also identified by the relative abundances of DDAs. The RSD of the relative abundances of some character ions at m/z 556, 586, and 590 were 13.53%, 4.03%, and 12.03%, respectively. So this in situ analytical method can identify both the types of Aconitum preparata and their quality. It provides the following advantages in the analysis of Chinese herbs: fast detection without much pretreatment, high-throughput analysis, and reduction of pollution without any organic solvent.

Analysis of pharmaceutical products and herbal medicines using ambient mass spectrometry

“…The pharmaceutical products in the form of tablet are generally analyzed using this strategy, and various active pharmaceutical ingredients in different pharmaceutical tablets [39,56,[65][66][67][68] as well as impurity D in atorvastatin tablet [68] were successfully analyzed and investigated. In addition, several raw herbal materials including Atropa acuminate [69], Piper betle Linn [70], Ocimum basilicum, Mentha spicata, and Coriandrum sativum [71], Aconitum plants [72], Datura seeds [73], and Rauwolfia species [74] were also analyzed by DART-MS via such a strategy.…”

Rapid, presumptive identification of seed-based toxins using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) and its variants

“…DART-MS has been demonstrated for a wide range of forensic applications [9] such as the analysis of drugs [11], explosives [12], paints [13], and sexual assault lubricants [14]. DART-MS has also been applied to the analysis of plant-based materials [15][16][17]. A significant body of work exists on the detection of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) present in plant materials (e.g., kratom) [18,19].…”

Fast analysis of benzodiazepines using argon direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry on‐line coupled with a thermal‐assisted gasification injector

“…An ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) technique [6][7][8][9][10] ionizes samples in a matrix without complex pre-treatment. Direct analysis in real time (DART), [10][11][12][13][14][15] a kind of ambient ionization (AI) technique, usually uses helium or nitrogen as the running gas. These gas molecules are excited by discharge and then ionize analytes via a series of reactions with water molecules participating in the atmosphere.…”