| Summary: | The complexity of herbal matrix necessitates the development of powerful analytical strategies to enable comprehensive multicomponent characterization. In this work, targeting the multicomponents from <i>Panax japonicus</i> C.A. Meyer, both data dependent acquisition (DDA) and data-independent high-definition MS<sup>E</sup> (HDMS<sup>E</sup>) in the negative electrospray ionization mode were used to extend the coverage of untargeted metabolites characterization by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to a Vion<sup>TM</sup> IM-QTOF (ion-mobility/quadrupole time-of-flight) high-resolution mass spectrometer. Efficient chromatographic separation was achieved by using a BEH Shield RP18 column. Optimized mass-dependent ramp collision energy of DDA enabled more balanced MS/MS fragmentation for mono- to penta-glycosidic ginsenosides. An in-house ginsenoside database containing 504 known ginsenosides and 60 reference compounds was established and incorporated into UNIFI<sup>TM</sup>, by which efficient and automated peak annotation was accomplished. By streamlined data processing workflows, we could identify or tentatively characterize 178 saponins from <i>P. japonicus</i>, of which 75 may have not been isolated from the <i>Panax</i> genus. Amongst them, 168 ginsenosides were characterized based on the DDA data, while 10 ones were newly identified from the HDMS<sup>E</sup> data, which indicated their complementary role. Conclusively, the in-depth deconvolution and characterization of multicomponents from <i>P. japonicus</i> were achieved, and the approaches we developed can be an example for comprehensive chemical basis elucidation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
|
|---|
