title: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of phenolic compounds in the leaves of aquilaria sinensis using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The leaves of Aquilaria sinensis traditionally have been used in China for a century. Phenolic compounds were investigated to be the major active compounds in them.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To establish a method that will simultaneously determine the phenolic compounds in Aquilaria sinensis leaves and identify their characteristic fragmentation patterns, and to make a comparison of A. sinensis leaf samples from different areas of China.
  
  
  METHODS
  High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) and photodiode array detection (DAD) were used for the qualitative and quantitative analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one compounds, including xanthones, benzophenones and flavones, were identified or tentatively characterised. The fragmentation patterns of xanthones and benzophenones were also described. Also, eight components in the herbal samples from different regions were determined by HPLC-DAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The method developed is suitable for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of phenolic constituents in the leaves of A. sinensis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Complex Prescription of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Hai-Xiang
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Lin-Lin
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jun-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kou
authors.forename: Shou-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Bo-Yang
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D029645:Thymelaeaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D044004:Xanthones / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols; D044004:Xanthones