Determination of 6 Marker Components and 2 Liriope Spicata Specific Components in Shengmai Yin by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry and Its Chemical Pattern Recognition Analysis

To comprehensively and systematically evaluate the quality of Shengmai Yin and accurately identify the potential adulteration of Liriope spicata, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （UHPLC-MS/MS） was employed to simultaneously determine the contents of 6 marker components （ginsenoside Rg₁, ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rb₁, ophiopogonin C, ophiopogonin D, schisandrin） and 2 Liriope spicata specific components （liriopesides B, liriope muscari baily saponins C） in 18 batches of Shengmai Yin samples. Based on the determination results of the 6 marker components, cluster analysis （CA）, principal component analysis （PCA）, and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA） were further used to classify the 18 batches of samples and screen for differential components. The 1 mL of the sample was diluted to 50 mL with 70% （volume fraction） methanol solution, passed through a 0.22 μm filter membrane, and the filtrate was analyzed by UHPLC-MS/MS. Separation was achieved on the XBridge BEH C₁₈ column using the gradient elution system of acetonitrile and 0.1% （volume fraction） formic acid solution containing 2 mmol·L⁻¹ ammonium acetate. Ionization was performed using the electrospray ion source in both positive and negative ion modes, detection was carried out with multiple reaction monitoring mode, and quantification was conducted by the external standard method. It was shown that linear relationships between values of the mass concentrations and their corresponding peak areas of the 8 components were kept in definite ranges, with detection limits （3S/N） in the range of 0.8‒1.7 μg·L⁻¹. Test for recovery was made using the standard addition method, giving recoveries in the range of 91.2%‒100%, and RSDs （n=6） of the determined values less than 3.0%. The proposed method was applied to the analysis of 18 batches of samples, certain differences in the contents of the 6 marker components among samples produced by different manufacturers, and components of Liriope spicata were detected in 4 batches. The 18 batches of samples were classified into the 3 categories by CA, PCA, and OPLS-DA, and 2 differential components of ophiopogonin C and ginsenoside Rg₁ were identified.