Simultaneous determination of ginsenosides Rg1, Re, and Rb1 and notoginsenoside R1 by solid phase extraction followed by UHPLC-MS/MS and investigation of their concentrations in various kinds of cosmetics

Abstract

Panax notoginseng saponins, mainly including ginsenosides Rg1 (GRg1), Re (GRe), and Rb1 (GRb1) and notoginsenoside R1 (NR1), have been widely used in cosmetic products due to their various properties such as anti-aging, anti-oxidation and accelerating skin metabolism. In this study, a solid phase extraction combined with an ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed and validated for monitoring the concentrations of GRg1, GRe, GRb1 and NR1 in different kinds of cosmetic products. Pretreatment conditions of samples including the purification column, sample concentration, and washing and elution conditions of a selected column were optimized. Four target analytes were separated on a T3 column by using an optimized gradient elution program, with acetonitrile–water as the mobile phase. The calibration curves were linear in the ranges of 0.05–5 mg L⁻¹ for NR1 and 0.1–10 mg L⁻¹ for GRg1, GRe and GRb1, with correlation coefficients all greater than 0.996. Moreover, the corresponding method limit of detection (MLOD) and the method limit of quantitation (MLOQ) were in the ranges of 0.3–1.0 mg kg⁻¹ and 1.0–3.5 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Recoveries of four target analytes were in the range of 80.9–93.0% with relative standard deviations (RSDs, n = 6) of 1.9–8.2%. This developed method with excellent linearity and high sensitivity was simple and rapid, and was successfully applied to determine the concentrations of GRg1, GRe, GRb1 and NR1 in various kinds of cosmetic products.