Simultaneous determination of nine flavonoids in Farfarae Flos by UHPLC-MS/MS and its application in quality evaluation

Abstract Farfarae Flos, a frequently used traditional herbal medicine with outstanding antitussive and anti-asthmatic effects. As an herbal rich in natural flavonoids, the quantitative determination of multi-flavonoids can be helpful to comprehensively evaluate its quality. Herein, an efficient, sensitive and accurate UHPLC-MS/MS method was established to simultaneous determinate nine flavonoids (rutin, hyperin, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, hesperidin, luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, apigenin, and genkwanin) in Farfarae Flos. The calibration curves of the analytes had good linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9991). Limit of detection and limit of quantitation of each analytes was in the range of 1.06 × 10−5–2.26 × 10−3 μg·mL−1 and 3.52 × 10−5–7.53 × 10−3 μg·mL−1. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the intra-day and inter-day precision was less than 2.71% and 2.94%. The RSD of repeatability test and stability test was less than 2.35% and 2.56%. The recovery rates were in the range of 95.27%–103.60%. The method was further applied to determinate 40 batches of samples that derived from different plant parts and with definite habitat. The results of chemometric statistical analysis showed that, firstly, the content of flavonoids can effectively reflect the differences between traditional medicinal parts and impurities. Secondly, the geographical environment has impact on the quality. In conclusion, this study provides a valuable methodological reference for the quality evaluation and further resource utilization of Farfarae Flos. Graphical Abstract