Simultaneous Determination of Six Steroidal Alkaloids of Veratrum dahuricum by HPLC–ELSD and HPLC–MSn

A high performance liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC–ELSD) and electrospray ionization multistage mass spectrometry (HPLC–ESI–MSn), respectively, has been performed for the simultaneous determination of six steroidal alkaloids, including pseudojervine, veratrosine, jervine, veratramine, 3-veratroylzygadenine, 3-angeloylzygadenine, in Veratrum dahuricum collected in different seasons. The plants were soaked in methanol and extracted ultrasonically. The six steroidal alkaloids were obtained by silica gel column chromatography, eluting with gradient petroleum and acetyl acetate. The intra-day and inter-day precisions of the method were evaluated and were less than 1.4%. The content of steroidal alkaloids in the plant varied significantly from spring to autumn, confirming the necessity to control the quality of V. dahuricum during its preparation and application.