Development and validation of an UPLC-DAD-MS method for the determination of leonurine in Chinese motherwort (Leonurus japonicus).

In the present study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography method with diode array detection (UPLC-DAD) was developed for the analysis and determination of leonurine from motherwort (Leonurus japonicus), a traditional Chinese medicinal plant. This method was validated in terms of specificity, linearity (R(2) = 0.9995, linear range: 0.005 ~ 0.5 mg/mL), precision (< 5.0% RSD), and recovery (103.2%). The extracted amount of leonurine is 0.15 mg/g. Moreover, the target analyte was identified or tentatively characterized using UPLC coupled with electrospary tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS).