High-performance liquid chromatographic profile and ¹H quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance analyses for quality control of a Xinjiang licorice extract

Various pharmacological properties of Xinjiang licorice flavonoids have been reported recently. We have investigated constituents corresponding to distinct peaks on the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profile of a flavonoid-rich extract from licorice, and identified 13 flavonoids, including licochalcone A (1), licochalcone B (3), glabrone (4), and echinatin (5), by isolating them and then performing high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral analyses. We then applied the ¹H quantitative NMR (qNMR) method for analysis of major flavonoids, 1 and 3–5 in the extract. The ¹H qNMR results were supported by ¹³C NMR analysis. The results demonstrated the utility of the combination of HPLC profiling and qNMR analyses for quality control of Xinjiang licorice. Additionally, we observed a moderate inhibitory effect of the most abundant constituent, licochalcone A (1), on acetylcholine esterase activity, suggesting utility as a seed for drug development.