Quantitation of artemisinin and its biosynthetic precursors in Artemisia annua L. by high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry.
This study reports the development and validation of a rapid, sensitive and selective assay for the quantitation of artemisinin, arteannuin B, artemisitene and artemisinic acid in Artemisia annua L. by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) electrospray (ESI) quadrupole time of flight (Q-TOF) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). A recovery of >97% for all analytes was achieved by immersing one gram of fresh plant material in chloroform for 1 min. This result supports the hypothesis that artemisinin and some of its structural analogs present in the leaves A. annua L. are localized entirely in the subcuticular space of the glands on the surface of the leaves. We validated the use of this chloroform extract, without additional sample preparation steps, for quantitative Q-TOF MS/MS. No ion suppression (matrix effect) resulting from interference with other compounds was detected. For every concentration within the range of the standard curve (0.1 to 3.00 microg/ml), accuracy was between 85% and 115%. Within- and between-day variations for the analysis of A. annua L. samples were <20%.
Van Nieuwerburgh
Filip C W
FC
Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Ghent University, Harelbekestraat 72, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Vande Casteele
Sofie R F
SR
Maes
Lies
L
Goossens
Alain
A
Inzé
Dirk
D
Van Bocxlaer
Jan
J
Deforce
Dieter L D
DL
D019306:Artemisia / Q000378:metabolism*; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*
D037621:Artemisinins; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C031327:artemisinin