Systematic chemical profiling of Citrus grandis ‘Tomentosa’ by ultra-fast liquid chromatography/diode-array detector/quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry

• Citrus grandis ‘Tomentosa’ was used as traditional Chinese medicine “Huajuhong”.
• Chemical profiles with 48 components were characterized by UFLC–DAD–Q-TOF-MS/MS.
• Chemical constituent differences were investigated between two medicinal parts.
• 8 major compounds were successfully simultaneously quantified.
• The study might improve the quality control standard of Citrus grandis ‘Tomentosa’.

Citrus grandis ‘Tomentosa’, as the original plant of the traditional Chinese medicine “Huajuhong”, has been used as antitussive and expectorant in clinic for thousands of years. The fruit epicarp and whole fruit of this plant were both literarily recorded and commonly used. In the present study, an ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array detection and quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UFLC–DAD–Q-TOF-MS/MS) based chemical profiling method was developed for rapid holistic quality evaluation of C. grandis ‘Tomentosa’, which laid basis for chemical comparison of two medicinal parts. As a result, forty-eight constituents, mainly belonging to flavonoids and coumarins, were unambiguously identified by comparison with reference standards and/or tentatively characterized by elucidating UV spectra, quasi-molecular ions and fragment ions referring to information available in literature. Both of the epicarp and whole fruit samples were rich in flavonoids and coumarins, but major flavonoids contents in whole fruit were significantly higher than in epicarp (P < 0.5). The proposed method could be useful in quality control and standardization of C. grandis ‘Tomentosa’ raw materials and its products. Results obtained in this study will provide a basis for quality assessment and further study in vivo.

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