Objective: This paper reports a method based on liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray mass spectrometry for the analysis of terpenoids in ginkgo laminae.
Method: The analysis was performed on ZORBAX RX-C18 (2.1 mm x 150 mm) column with methanol-water(with gradient) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.25 mL x min(-1), and column temperature of 25 degrees C. Analyses were carried out in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode.
Result: Ginkgolides (GA, GB and GC) and bilobalide were quantitatively detected by external standardization with linear in the range of 4.04-1.012 x 10(2) ng, with coefficient and relative standard deviations being 0.993 7-0.999 8 and 2.50%-4.73%. LC-ESI-MS shows a greatly increased sensitivity compared with other methods. The detection limit of this method by SIM was 1.47 x 10(-3)-0.320 microg x mL(-1).
Conclusion: This method is specific, reproducible, rapidly and permits quantitative analyses of ginkgolides and bilobalide in different samples with simple pre-purification steps.