Аннотация:Ginseng (panax ginseng C.A. Meyer), one of the most popular botanicals, has been used in China as an elixir medicine since 2000 years ago. The major active compounds in ginseng are ginsenosides, a diverse group of triterpene saponins, further classified into dammarane-type and oleanane-type according to their chemical structures of the aglycones. Various ginsenosides include cardio-protective, immunomodulatory, anti-fatigue, antitumor and hepato-protective effects. Almost all ginsenosides derive from a dammarane triterpenoid skeleton via glycosylation and hydroxylation. The biological activities of some ginsenosides even opposeeach other. For example, Rg1 has the effect of stimulating the central nervous system, whereas Rb1 has tranquilizing effects on the central nervous system and Rc inhibits the central nervous system. Some ginsenosides, such as ginsenoside Rb1, present many pharmacological roles, but others, such as ginsenoside Rd, have only a few bioactivities. Generally, the constitution of ginsenosides in ginseng cells (including P. ginseng and P. notoginseng) is complicated, and its qualitative analysis is very important.
Due to the rare availability of the standards of ginsenosides and other bioactive compounds, the research work in the field of analysis of medical plants is far from being completed. That’s why an approach of standard-free qualitative analysis of ginsenosides in plants was developed in this work on the basis of liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The sample preparation technique based on extraction was optimized. Using the extracts from the rhizome of Panax ginseng and samples of ginseng tea, the validation of the approach was made. Analysis of extracts was carried out using a reversed-phase chromatography with SB-C18 sorbent. For compounds determination, electrospray ionization and tandem mass-spectrometric detection in scan and product scan modes were used. The accuracy of the identification was proven with standards of ginsenosides Rb1 and Rq1. Keywords: high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, electrospray ionization, Panax ginseng, ginsenosides.