Characterization of saccharides and phenolic acids in the Chinese herb Tanshen by ESI-FT-ICR-MS and HPLC.

This study sought to determine the main components (saccharides and phenolic acids) in crude extract of the Chinese herb Tanshen by electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonant mass spectrometry (ESI-FT-ICR-MS) in negative-ion mode. Eleven compounds were identified as phenolic acids by exact mass measurement and further confirmed by sustained off-resonance irradiation (SORI) CID data. In addition, monosaccharides and oligosaccharides (n = 2-5) and a serial of corresponding anionic adducts of saccharide were observed without adding any anions additionally to the extract solution, and the anionic components were unambiguously identified as H2O, HCl, HCOOH, HNO3, C3H6O2, H2SO4 and C5H7NO3 according to the exact mass measurement results. Furthermore, the saccharide types in Tanshen extract were identified as raffitrinose, saccharose, glucose, galactose and fructose with HPLC by comparing standards.