Online Monitoring for Strychnos Nux-vomica   Parching in Sands and Chemical Compositional Analysis by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography - Linear Trap Quadrupole -Orbitrap- Mass Spectrometry

Purpose: To provide an online and non-contact method to monitor the dynamic temperature of the nuxvomica parching in sands, and also to develop a rapid screening and comparison of the compounds in crude and processed nux-vomica.
Methods: Seeds of nux-vomica were parched in sands by an herbal medicine roaster with an onlinetype and non-contact temperature measurement system (ONTMS). Processing was monitored by ONTMS and the processing temperature was accurately controlled within the range 200 - 220 °C. Ultra performance liquid chromatography - linear trap quadrupole -orbitrap-mass spectrometry method in positive ionization mode was established in this work. The samples were extracted by ultrasonication with 50 % methanol for 30 min. Chromatographic separation was achieved on an Acquity UPLC HSS T3 column using a gradient program with acetonitrile and 1 % formic acid as the mobile phase and a diode array detector set at 254 nm for quantification.
Results: The surface color of the processed seeds of nux-vomica were brown or dark brown and the cross-section bulged with small bubble which meets the requirements of Chinese traditional processing methods. Fourteen major compounds from crude and processed nux-vomica were identified simultaneously by HPLC-DAD. According to the MS fragmentation pathways and by comparing with reference literature, the structures of eleven of the compounds were confirmed.
Conclusion: Methods using ONTMS are more accurate for parching nux-vomica in sands and UPLCLTQ- Orbitrap-MS is a rapid and straightforward method for compound profiling in crude and processed nux-vomica.

Keywords
Strychnos; Nux vomica; Parching in sands; Online-type and non-contact temperature measurement system; Ultra performance liquid chromatography - linear trap quadrupole - orbitrap - mass spectrometry; Compound profiling