Determination of volatile components in peptic powder by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and chemometric resolution

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) coupled with chemometric resol ution upon two-dimensional data was proposed as a method for the analysis o f volatile components in a traditional Chinese medicinal preparation peptic powder which contains Rhizoma Atractylodis, Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae, Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis and Radix Glycyrrhizae. Ninety-three componen ts were separated and 65 of them were qualitatively and quantitatively anal yzed which represented about 90.28% of the total content. With the help of chemometric resolution, the data were resolved into a pure chromatogram and a mass spectrum of each chemical component. The accuracy of qualitative an d quantitative results was greatly improved by using the two-dimensional co mprehensive information of chromatograms and mass spectra. The example show ed that chemometric resolution could greatly enhance separation ability. Th is makes it possible to analyze complicated practical systems like traditio nal Chinese medicinal preparations with the help of coupled instruments and chemometric resolution methods. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.