Effect of different drying methods on the quality of Angelicae Sinensis Radix evaluated through simultaneously determining four types of major bioactive components by high performance liquid chromatography photodiode array detector and ultra-high performa

• An HPLC-PDA method for quantifying four types of components in DG was developed.
• The identities of analytes in samples were further confirmed by UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS.
• The effect of five advanced drying methods on the holistic quality of DG was revealed.
• Hot air-drying keeps the similar chemical composition of dried DG slices with that of fresh DG.
• Vacuum-drying retains the highest contents of the major components in DG whole roots.

In the present study, the effect of drying methods on the quality of Angelicae Sinensis Radix (DG), was evaluated by newly developed high performance liquid chromatography photodiode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS). Ten major bioactive components including two phenolic acids, two hydroxyl phthalides, four alkyl phthalides and two phthalide dimers were selected as evaluation chemical markers and the newly-established method was qualitatively and quantitatively validated. DG slices and whole roots dried in shade, sun light, hot air, vacuum, microwave, far infrared ray and combination of microwave and far infrared ray as well as the fresh DG samples were determined by the established methods. DG slices dried in hot air kept the similar chemical composition to that of fresh DG, while DG whole roots dried in vacuum retained highest contents of the major components. Coniferyl ferulate and ligustilide degraded significantly in DG slices dried by microwave, far infrared ray and their combination. The influence of such chemical changes induced by different drying methods on the bioactivities of DG warrants further investigation, so that the optimal drying method can be obtained for the standardization of DG herb.

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