Introduction:
The root of Millettia speciosa Champ. (Leguminosae) is one of the wellknown
traditional Chinese medicines abundant in phenolic compounds and plays important roles in the
treatment of pain or numbness of the joints, blood deficiency sallow, chronic bronchitis and chronic
hepatitis.
Objective:
An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight
mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) based chemical profiling approach was established for the
separation and characterization of isoflavonoids in the roots of Millettia speciosa Champ.
Methods:
The roots of Millettia speciosa Champ. were prepared by ethanol extraction followed by further
extraction with chloroform. The extracts were analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS in positive and negative
electrospray ion modes at different Collision Energy (CE) values.
Results:
A total of 48 components were simultaneously detected, of which 38 components, including 21
isoflavones, 4 phenolic acids, 4 isoflavanones, 2 phenolic aldehydes, 2 flavanones, 1 aliphatic acid, 1
chalcone, 1 flavonol, 1 isoflavane and 1 pterocarpan were unambiguously identified or tentatively assigned
based on the retention time, UV spectra, characteristic molecular ions, MS/MS fragmentation
data and reference standards. The isomers of isoflavonoids were distinguished using accurate mass, the
diagnostic fragmentations of C-ring and UV spectra. The major diagnostic fragment ions of isoflavonoids
were observed and the corresponding fragmentation pathways were proposed.
Conclusion:
This investigation provides important analysis data for further quality control, pharmacological
and toxicological research on Millettia speciosa Champ.