Construction of the fingerprints of ginseng stem and leaf saponin reference substances and spiked plasma sample by LC-ESI/MS and its application to analyzing the compounds absorbed into blood after oral administration of ginseng stem and leaf saponin in rat.

Develop a simple and reliable assay method to detect ginseng stem and leaf saponins (GSLS) in methanol and rat plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in scan mode, and construct the fingerprints of GSLS reference substances and plasma samples. In order to screen the active constituents of GSLS, analysis and comparison were carried out between the LC/ESI-MS profiles of blank rat plasma and rat plasma samples obtained after oral administration of GSLS. Thirty-one compounds were detected and 10 of them were identified in the fingerprints of reference substances and spiked plasma sample. Furthermore, 12 compounds (C7, C8, C14, C15, C18, Re, C24, Rb(1), Rc, Rb(2), Rb(3), Rd) were absorbed easily and some new compounds were generated after oral administration of GSLS, which might be the metabolites of GSLS. These absorbed components and new compounds may be the main bioactive components of GSLS.