Simultaneous Determination of Ten Ginsenosides in American Ginseng Functional Foods and Ginseng Raw Plant Materials by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A method was established for simultaneous determination of ten ginsenosides (ginsenosides Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rf, Rb3, 20(S)-F1, 20(S)-F2, Rg3, 20(S)-Rh2, and pseudoginsenoside F11) in American ginseng functional foods and ginseng raw plant materials by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. After samples were ultrasonically extracted with 60 % (v/v) methanol aqueous solution, centrifuged, and filtered, the analytes in sample solution were separated by a Hypersil Gold column (2.1?×?150 mm, 5 μm) at 25 °C with a programmed gradient elution. Mobile phases consisting of 0.01 % (v/v) formic acid aqueous solution and methanol were used for elution with a flow rate of 250 μL/min. Qualitative determination was completed by comparison with characteristic ion pairs and retention time of the targeted compounds using selective reaction monitoring mode. Digoxin was used as internal standard in positive ionization mode. The internal standard curves were used for quantification. The limits of detection of the method were from 1.0 to 5.0 mg/kg. The linear dynamic ranges covered from 10 to 5,000 μg/L (R ²?≥?0.99). Principal component analysis was used for distinguishing ginseng sources of the functional foods. Thirty-seven samples, including 11 American ginseng raw plants, 12 labeled American ginseng functional foods, 5 notoginsengs, 5 Asian ginsengs, and 4 red ginsengs, were analyzed by this method. The results showed that five labeled American ginseng functional foods might have quality defects and six functional foods might be adulterated. This method can be applied to quality control and ginseng source assessment of American ginseng functional foods.