Rapid identification of constituents from different Ginkgo biloba preparations by high resolution mass spectrometry and metabolomics technology

A qualitative analysis was developed to identify different ingredients from three Ginkgo biloba preparations(including Yinxingye Diwan, extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves tablets and Yinxingtongzhi Diwan)based on high resolution mass spectrometry and metabolomics technology. An XSELECT HSS T3(4. 6 mm×150 mm, 3. 5 μm)column was used for separation, with the mobile phases consisting of acetonitrile and water containing 0. 1% formic acid. The column temperature was set at 40 °C. Negative ion mode was used for mass spectrometric data acquisition. Through partial least squares projection to latent structure-discriminant analysis(PLS-DA), we firstly found the different compounds among different Ginkgo biloba preparations. Subsequently, the compounds displaying different abundance levels via database searching and literature matching were identified. Finally, we identified 21 different compounds between the extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves tablets and Yinxingye Diwan, which mostly belong to the organic acids and flavonols families. Quantitative analysis showed that the ingredients which had higher abundance in extract of Ginkgo biloba leaves tablets were mainly organic acids, whereas those exhibiting higher levels in Yinxingye Diwan are flavonols. We also identified 12 different ingredients between the Yinxingye Diwan and Yinxingtongzhi Diwan, which were flavonols, sciadopitysin and organic acids. The results of this study are useful for studying different chemical constituents from distinct Ginkgo biloba preparations.