Abstract:A new method was established to detect phosphatidylcholine in health supplement capsules, using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and the result was further verified using UPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The capsule contents were diluted before being tested or went through liquid-liquid-partitiondepuration. The analytes were separated using a BEH HILIC column and isocratic elution with methanol and isopropanol as the mobile phase. The analyte quantitates were detected by a photodiode array (PDA) detector and further verified by UPLC-MS/MS operated using electrospray ionization cation (ESI+)-muti-reaction monitoring( MRM). The detection limit was 0.001 mg/mL and linear range was between 0.005 and 0.100 mg/mL. The mean addition recovery rate of 6 concentrations was 83.3%, with a mean, relative standard deviation of 4.5%. Health supplement capsule marked 11.4 g/100 g was tested using this method with parallel determination results of 8.93 g/100 g and 8.76 g/100 g and the relative standard deviation of 3.02% and 0.60%, respectively. The results showed that the method is accurate, fast, and suitable for the determination and verification of phosphatidylcholine in health supplement capsules.
