Fugan fang (FGF) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription that has been used in treating hepatic illnesses for many years. In this study, an analytical method is developed for the quantitative analysis of the major components of FGF. This method is based on high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) on a reverse-phase C18 column. Results show that 0.01% acetic acid and acetonitrile is the optimum mobile phase in gradient elution. All compounds showed good linearity (r(2) ≥ 0.9948). Recoveries measured at three concentration levels varied from 83.5 to 104.8%. The method was validated with respect to precision, repeatability and accuracy and was successfully applied in the quantification of the 11 components of FGF products. The validated HPLC-MS method provides a basis for assessing the quality of TCM prescriptions containing many bioactive components.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.