Advanced ultra-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometric methods for simultaneous screening and quantification of triterpenoids in Poria cocos

A sensitive, precise and accurate method was developed to screen and quantify triterpenoids based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array–quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–PDA–QTOF–MS). An exact neutral loss scan of 62.0004 Da (CH2O3) was used to selectively detect triterpenoids in Poria cocos, followed by a survey scan for exact masses of precursor and fragment ions of these triterpenoids. The developed...