Separation of Fructosyl Oligosaccharides in Maple Syrup by Using Charged Aerosol Detection

Fructosyl oligosaccharides, including fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS), are gaining popularity as functional oligosaccharides and have been found in various natural products. Our previous study suggested that maple syrup contains an unidentified fructosyl oligosaccharide. Because these saccharides cannot be detected with high sensitivity using derivatization methods, they must be detected directly. As a result, an analytical method based on charged aerosol detection (CAD) that can detect saccharides directly was optimized in order to avoid relying on these structures and physical properties to clarify the profile of fructosyl oligosaccharides in maple syrup. This analytical method is simple and can analyze up to hepta-saccharides in 30 min. This analytical method was also reliable and reproducible with high validation values. It was used to determine the content of saccharides in maple syrup, which revealed that it contained not only fructose, glucose, and sucrose but also FOS such as 1-kestose and nystose. Furthermore, we discovered a fructosyl oligosaccharide called neokestose in maple syrup, which has only been found in a few natural foods. These findings help to shed light on the saccharides profile of maple syrup.

Quantitative Determination of 7 Saikosaponins in Xiaochaihu Granules Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Charged Aerosol Detection

Bupleuri Radix (Chaihu, in Chinese) is the principal drug in Xiaochaihu granules (XGs) that is a famous Chinese medicine preparation in China. Since previous analytical methods have not focused on the multiactive saikosaponins of Chaihu, it is difficult to effectively control the quality of XG on the market. In this manuscript, the simultaneous determination of 7 saikosaponins (saikosaponins C, I, H, A, B2, G, and B1) in XG by HPLC with charged aerosol detection (CAD) and confirmation by LC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS were described. The saikosaponins were purified on an SPE cartridge and determined on a Waters CORTECTS C18 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 2.7 μm) by gradient elution using 0.01% acetic acid aqueous solution and acetonitrile. The results showed good linearity with the r2 values higher than 0.998 for all analytes. The average recoveries at three different concentration levels ranged from 80% to 109% and the intraday and interday precision (relative standard deviations, RSD%) were in the range of 1.0%∼1.9% and 1.4%∼2.1%, respectively. The established HPLC-CAD method was subsequently applied to 15 batches of XG to investigate the batch-to-batch consistency and controllability. The proposed method could potentially be used for the quality control of XG and also be helpful in the quality evaluation of Chaihu and its related preparations.