title: Quantification of flavonol glycosides in Camellia sinensis by MRM mode of UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS.
abstract: Phenolic compounds are major components of tea flavour, in which catechins and flavonol glycosides play important roles in the astringent taste of tea infusion. However, the flavonol glycosides are difficult to quantify because of the large variety, as well as the inefficient seperation on chromatography. In this paper, a total of 15 flavonol glycosides in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) were identified by the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS), and a quantitative method was established based on multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (QQQ-MS/MS). It provided the limit of detection and quantification to the order of picogram, which was more sensitive than the HPLC detection of the order of nanogram. The relative standard deviations of the intra- and inter-day variations in retention time and signal intensity (peak area) of six analytes were less than 0.26% and 4%, respectively. The flavonol glycosides of four tea cultivars were relatively quantified using the signal intensity (peak area) of product ion, in which six flavonol glycosides were quantified by the authentic standards. The results showed that the flavonol mono-, di- and tri-glycoside mostly accumulated in young leaves of the four tea cultivars. Notably, the myricetin 3-O-galactoside was the major component among the six flavonol glycosides detected.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: wuyahui19910918@163.com.
authors.forename: Yahui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: jiangxiaolan128@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiaolan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: zhangshuxiang90@126.com.
authors.forename: Shuxiang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: xinlongdai@163.com.
authors.forename: Xinlong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: liuyajun1228@163.com.
authors.forename: Yajun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Center, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: tan890112@ahau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huarong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: gaolp62@126.com.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui, China. Electronic address: xiatao62@126.com.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D028241:Camellia sinensis / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D044948:Flavonols / Q000032:analysis*; D006027:Glycosides / Q000032:analysis*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D044948:Flavonols; D006027:Glycosides
keywords: Camellia sinensis; Flavonol glycosides; HPLC-TOF-MS; Quantification; UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS