Simultaneous Determination of Bioactive Monoterpene Indole Alkaloids in Ethanolic Extract of Seven Rauvolfia Species Using UHPLC with Hybrid Triple Quadrupole Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry

Introduction: Rauvolfia serpentina is an endangered plant species due to its over-exploitation. It has highly commercial and economic importance due to the presence of bioactive monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs) such as ajmaline, yohimbine, ajmalicine, serpentine and reserpine.

Objective: To develop a validated, rapid, sensitive and selective ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQLIT -MS/MS) method in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode for simultaneous determination of bioactive MIAs in ethanolic extract of seven Rauvolfia species and herbal formulations.

Methods: The separation of MIAs was achieved on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH™ C18 column (1.7 μm, 2.1 mm × 50 mm) using a gradient mobile phase (0.1% aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile) at flow rate 0.3 μL/min in 7 min. The validated method showed good linearity (r(2)  ≥ 0.9999), limit of detection (LOD) (0.06-0.15 ng/mL), limit of quantitation (LOQ) (0.18-0.44 ng/mL), precisions [intraday: relative standard deviation (RSD) ≤ 2.24%, interday: RSD ≤ 2.74%], stability (RSD ≤ 1.53%) and overall recovery (RSD ≤ 2.23%).

Results: The validated method was applied to quantitate MIAs. Root of Rauvolfia vomitoria showed a high content of ajmaline (48.43 mg/g), serpentine (87.77 mg/g) whereas high quantities of yohimbine (100.21 mg/g) and ajmalicine (120.51 mg/g) were detected in R. tetraphylla. High content of reserpine was detected in R. micrantha (35.18 mg/g) and R. serpentina (32.38 mg/g).

Conclusion: The encouraging results of this study may lead to easy selection of suitable Rauvolfia species according to the abundance of MIAs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.