Development and Validation of LC-MS/MS Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Arjunic Acid, Arjungenin and Arjunetin in Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wight & Arn.

Arjunic acid, Arjungenin and Arjunetin are one of the three major triterpenoids in the bark of Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ) Wight & Arn. A simple, precise and accurate LC-MS/MS method has been developed for simultaneous determination of these three triterpenoids. MRM (Multiple Reaction Monitoring) transitions 487.20greater than425.30, 503.20greater than409.30, and 695.30greater than393.40 were optimized on Shimadzu triple quadrupole mass spectrometer instrument (Model LCMS-8040) for quantification of Arjunic acid, Arjungenin, and Arjunetin respectively. Chromatographic method development was carried out using Shimadzu shimpack-XR C18 column (75mm x 3.0mm x 2.2) with mobile phase containing 0.1 % formic in water & acetonitrile and it was run with a gradient time program. The proposed method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ). The validated LC-MS/MS method can be used for a routine quality control analysis and simultaneous quantitation of triterpenoids viz. Arjunic acid, Arjungenin, and Arjunetin in Terminalia arjuna formulation.