Objective: To develop an accurate and rapid ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with a photodiode array (PDA) method for the simultaneous determination of artemisinin (Art), arteannuin B (Art B), arteannuin C (Art C), dihydroartemisinic acid (DHAA) and artemisinic acid (AA) in Artemisia annua L. Methodology: Chromatography separation was performed on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 Column with isocratic elution; the mobile phase was 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution (A) and acetonitrile (B) (A:B = 40:60, v/v). Data were recorded at an ultraviolet (UV) wavelength of 191 nm for Art, Art C, DHAA and AA, and 206 nm for Art B. Results: The calibration curves of the five sesquiterpene components were all linear with correlation coefficients more than 0.9990. The linear ranges were 31.44–1572 μg/mL, 25.48–1274 μg/mL, 40.56–2028 μg/mL, 31.44–1572 μg/mL and 26.88–1396 μg/mL for Art, Art B, Art C, DHAA and AA, respectively. The precision ranged from 0.08% to 2.88%, the stability was from 0.96% to 1.66%, and the repeatability was all within 2.42% and had a mean extraction recovery of 96.5% to 100.6%. Conclusion: The established UPLC–PDA method would be valuable for improving the quantitative analysis of sesquiterpene components in Artemisia annua L.
Simultaneous Quantification of Five Sesquiterpene Components after Ultrasound Extraction in Artemisia annua L. by an Accurate and Rapid UPLC–PDA Assay
