Simultaneous quantitative determination of five alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS

AimTo establish a method to simultaneously determine the main five alkaloids of Catharanthus roseus for trace samples, a high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis method was developed.MethodThe five Catharanthus alkaloids, vinblastine, vincristine, vinleurosine, vindoline, and catharanthine were chromatographically separated on a C18 HPLC column. The mobile phase was methanol–15 nmol·L−1 ammonium acetate containing 0.02% formic acid (65 : 35, V/V). The quantification of these alkaloids was based on the Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode.ResultsThis method was validated, and the results achieved the aims of the study. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy of the five alkaloids were within 1.2%–11.5% (RSD%) and −10.9%–10.5% (RE%). The recovery rates of the five alkaloids of samples were from 79.9% to 91.5%. The five analytes were stable at room temperature for 2 h, at 4 °C for 12 h, and at −20 °C for two weeks. The developed method was applied successfully to determine the content of the five alkaloids in three plant parts of three batches of C. roseus with a minute amount collected from three regions of China.ConclusionThe HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method can be used for the simultaneous determination of five important alkaloids in trace C. roseus samples.