Exploring the application of the DSA-TOF, a direct, high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry technique for the screening of potential adulterated and contaminated herbal medicines

Abstract

Global consumption of complementary and alternative medicines, including herbal medicines, has increased substantially, and recent reports of adulteration demonstrate the need for high throughput and extensive pharmacovigilance to ensure product safety and quality. Three different standard reference materials and five previously analyzed herbal medicines have been used as a proof of concept for the application of adulteration/contamination screening using a Direct Sample Analysis (DSA) ion source with TOF MS on the Perkin Elmer AxION 2 TOF. This technique offers the advantages of minimum sample preparation, rapid analysis, and mass accuracies of 5 ppm. The DSA TOF analysis correlates well with the previous analysis on the initial sample set (which found undeclared herbal ingredients), with the added advantage of detecting previously untargeted compounds, including species-specific flavonoids and alkaloids. The rapid analysis using the DSA-TOF facilitates screening for hundreds of compounds in minutes with minimal sample preparation, generating a comprehensive profile for each sample. Graphical Abstract.