Simultaneous quantitative analyses of Tanshinone I, Cryptotanshinone, and Tanshinone IIA in Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge) cultivated in Vietnam using LC-MS/MS

By using chromatography methods, the principal compounds tanshinon I, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA were isolated from danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge). Based on the spectroscopic data (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and ESI-MS mass spectra), the structures were determined. The compound was purified (purity > 99.8%) by Agilent 218 purification system, which was used as the standard for analyzing tanshinon I, cryptotanshinone, tanshinone IIA in six samples. In this study, one LC-MS/MS method was developed for the simultaneous quantitative determination of three bioactive principles, tanshinone I, cryptotanshinone, and tanshinone IIA in Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae (RSM, the root of S. miltiorrhiza). The quantification of these diterpenoids is based on the fragments of [M+H]+ under collision-activated conditions and in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. The quantitative method is validated by determining the mean recovery from fortified samples of tanshinone I, cryptotanshinone, and tanshinone IIA as higher than 98%. The established method is successfully applied to the quality assessment of six batches of RSM samples collected from different regions of Vietnam. The results show that Lam Dong sample has the highest tanshinone I content (4.4286±0.0009 µg/mg), meanwhile Muong Long sample has the lowest (1.2717±0.0013µg/mg). Lam Dong sample has the highest cryptotanshinone content (8.1589±0.0006 µg/mg), whereas Guangxi-China sample has the lowest (2.8630±0.0008 µg/mg). Ha Giang sample has the highest tanshinone IIA content (13.0252±0.0004 µg/mg), whereas Muong Long sample has the lowest (3.8278±0.0003 µg/mg)