UPLC-MS Analysis, Quantification of Compounds, and Comparison of Bioactivity of Methanol Extract and Its Fractions from Qiai (Artemisia argyi Lévl. et Van.)

The Artemisia argyi Lévl. et Van. growing in the surrounding areas of Qichun County in China are called Qiai (QA). Qiai is a crop that can be used both as food and in traditional folk medicine. However, detailed qualitative and quantitative analyses of its compounds remain scarce. The process of identifying chemical structures in complex natural products can be streamlined by combining UPLC-Q-TOF/MS data with the UNIFI information management platform and its embedded Traditional Medicine Library. For the first time, 68 compounds in QA were reported by the method in this study. The method of simultaneous quantification of 14 active components in QA using UPLC-TQ-MS/MS was reported for the first time. Following a screening of the activity of QA 70% methanol total extract and its three fractions (petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, and water), it was discovered that the ethyl acetate fraction enriched with flavonoids such as eupatilin and jaceosidin had the strongest anti-inflammatory activity, while the water fraction enriched with chlorogenic acid derivatives such as 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid had the strongest antioxidant and antibacterial activity. The results provided the theoretical basis for the use of QA in the food and pharmaceutical industries.