Comparative metabolic fingerprinting of Gentiana rhodantha from different geographical origins using LC-UV-MS/MS and multivariate statistical analysis

BACKGROUNDS: Gentiana rhodantha, a rich source of iridoids and polyphenols, is a traditional ethnomedicine widely used in China. Metabolic fingerprinting based on a LC-UV-MS/MS method was applied to explore the chemical markers for discrimination of G. rhodantha from different geographical origins. RESULTS: Targeted compounds were separated on a Shim-pack XR-ODS III (150 × 2.0 mm, 2.2 μm), with a mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid in water, under gradient elution. In quantitative analysis, all of the calibration curves showed good linear regression (R(2) < less than 0.9991) within the tested ranges, and accuracy ranged from 97.8% to 104.2% and the %RSD of precision (less than 3%) were all within the required limits. The most abundant mangiferin (82.21 mg/g) found in sample from Zunyi, Guizhou province. Furthermore, 64 samples according to their geographical origins, could be classified by partial least-squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) and nine compounds including two new compounds identified by mass spectrometry could be regarded as characteristic compounds for discriminating samples from different geographical origins. CONCLUSIONS: The developed method appears to be a useful tool for analysis of G. rhodantha, which could provide potential indicators for differentiation of different geographical origins. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12858-015-0038-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.