HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS Analysis for Simultaneous Quantitation of Phenolics in Taiwan Elderberry and Its Anti-Glycation Activity

Sambucus formosana is most commonly used as a traditional herb medicine in Taiwan. In this study, high performance liquid chromatography equipped with photodiode array detection-mass (HPLC–DAD-ESI-MS) method was developed for the identification and quantification of bioactive phenolics. The developed method was also validated for accuracy, precision, limit of detection, and quantification. In this method, chlorogenic acid, rutin, isoquercetrin, nictoflorin, astragalin, and quercetin were quantified in linearity range of 10–100 (μg/mL) with a correlation coefficient of greater than 0.996. High recovery (86.5–93.1%) and good reproducibility were obtained for six phenolics with the relative standard deviation ranging from 1.7–3.1%. Therefore, the proposed method for simultaneous quantification of six bioactive phenolics in the extract and fractions of S. formosana using HPLC–DAD-ESI-MS detection under the optimized conditions is accurate and validated. Among the results, methanol extract showed the greatest values of total phenolic content (93.1 mg gallic acid equivalent/g). Additionally, the methanol extract revealed best antioxidant capacity based on the DPPH scavenging activity and anti-glycation activity (IC(50) was observed at 97.1 and 77.9 μg/mL, respectively).