Characterisation of proanthocyanidins from Schisandra chinensis seed coats by UPLC-QTOF/MS.

In this article, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry method was developed to detect the chemical structures of proanthocyanidins (PAs) from seed coats of Schisandra chinensis. The cleavage pathways of the compounds were revealed. The structures of S. chinensis PAs, including two monomers, two B-type procyanidin dimers, three B-type procyanidin trimers, one mixed trimer and one B-type procyanidin tetramer, were confirmed. These nine compounds were detected in seed coats for the first time. The structures were identified by comparing their maximum absorption wavelengths, HPLC retention times and ESI-MS with those of authentic standards, or tentatively identified by MS/MS determination along with MetaboLynx(TM) software.