title: Structural analysis of saponins from medicinal herbs using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: The underivatized saponins from Tribulus terrestris and Panax ginseng have been investigated by electrospray ionization multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(n)). In ESI-MS spectra, a predominant [M + Na](+) ion in positive mode and [M - H](-) ion in negative mode were observed for molecular mass information. Multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry of the molecular ions was used for detailed structural analysis. Fragment ions from glycoside cleavage can provide information on the mass of aglycone and the primary sequence and branching of oligosaccharide chains in terms of classes of monosaccharides. Fragment ions from cross-ring cleavages of sugar residues can give some information about the linkages between sugar residues. It was found that different alkali metal-cationized adducts with saponins have different degrees of fragmentation, which may originate from the different affinity of a saponin with each alkali metal in the gas phase. ESI-MS(n) has been proven to be an effective tool for rapid determination of native saponins in extract mixtures, thus avoiding tedious derivatization and separation steps.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun, China. mslab@nc.ciac.jl.cn
authors.forename: Shuying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Fengrui
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mo
mesh_terms: D002240:Carbohydrate Sequence; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005894:Panax / Q000737:chemistry*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D012503:Saponins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D032444:Tribulus / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D012503:Saponins