Characterization of main components in Xiao'er Xiaoji Zhike oral liquid by UPLC-MS and their taste evaluation

Abstract

This paper provided a method for determining the potential quality markers in Xiao'er Xiaoji Zhike oral liquid (XXZOL) based on the concordant tastes of compounds with their respective originated Chinese medicinal pieces. UPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS technology was used to identify the main chemical constituents in XXZOL. The electronic tongue collected the electronic responses of the sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty sample solutions, and the discriminant factor analysis (DFA) model was established to recognize the taste characteristics of 23 liquid samples. Fifteen high content ingredients in XXZOL were identified by UPLC-MS, and the established DFA model recognized their respective tastes. The accurate recognition rate of the DFA model was 73.33%, the false rate was 6.67%, and the unrecognized rate was 20%. The concordance rate of their authentic tastes with the tastes of their respective originated Chinese medicinal pieces was 78.57%. Trigonelline, malic acid, citric acid, and caffeic acid were the potential sour material bases of XXZOL. Mannitol was the potential sweet material basis of XXZOL. L-phenylalanine, sinapine, forsythoside I, pinoresinol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, naringin, and neohesperidin were the potential bitter material bases of XXZOL. So the above 11 main compounds were the potential quality markers of XXZOL.

Keywords:
Xiao'er Xiaoji Zhike oral liquid; UPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS; electronic tongue; potential quality marker