Determination of five flavonoids in honeys by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS

A quantitative and quantitative method was established for determining 5 flavonoids in honeys by high performance chromatography-tendemmass/mass(HPLC-MS/MS). The samples were dissolved by deionized water, and then extracted by hexane-ethyl acetate solution with volume ratio of l:l, and the extract were centrifuged and evaporated. The residue were dissolved by methanol. The chromatography separation was performed on a C18 column with a gradient elution programmer using the mixture of methanol and 0.1% aqueous formic acid as mobile phase. The mass spectrometry equipped with an electrospray ionization source(ESI) was operated in the negative mode using multiple reaction monitoring(MRM). The linear relationship of the method was very obvious and the 5 flavonoids limits of quantization (LOQ) were 1.5μg/kg, the average spike recoveries situated between 64%∼89%, and the relative standard deviation(RSD) were 2.2%∼8.4%. The method is outstanding due to its precision and excellent separation effect and can be used for the determination of flavonoids in honey.