[Determination of higenamine in Chinese herbal medicine, condiments, and topical medicine by QuEChERS combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

A method combining QuEChERS with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of higenamine in Chinese herbal medicine, condiments, and topical medicine. The sample was subjected to extraction using a formic acid-ethanol mixture, followed by purification of the QuEChERS sorbents; then, the extraction solution was introduced into the LC-MS/MS system for detection in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limit of the developed method was 0.03 ng/g, and the linear range was 0.10-100 ng/g with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 4.33% (0.5 ng/g, n=7). The method was then applied to the determination of higenamine in 13 kinds of Chinese herbal medicine, four kinds of condiments, and a topical medicine. Higenamine was detected in dried lotus leaf, dried lotus seed, Chinese yam, Yuzhu, Yam, Sichuan pepper, Cassia, and the topical medicine at 9667.6, 1183.8, 21.5, 8.2, 8.5, 148.6, 21.3, and 173.3 μg/kg, respectively. The recoveries of higenamine in Sichuan pepper and cassia was 92.6%-109.8%. In conclusion, the method is fast, simple, reliable, and suitable for use in batch operation.