Determination of sex hormones in herb materials using supramolecular solvent extraction coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A supramolecular solvent (SUPRAS)-based extraction approach was developed for sample pretreatment of two kinds of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Coupling with HPLC-MS/MS, the analytical method was established for simultaneous quantification of 17 sex hormones in medicinal plants including Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. (LCH) and notopterygium incisum. (NI). Based on the inherent molecular recognition capability, the types and amounts of alkyl alcohols, tetrahydrofuran dosage, supramolecular solvent dosage, and vortex time were systematically investigated. Key validation parameters including linear range and precision were thoroughly evaluated. The method achieved recovery rates from 76.4 % to 109.8 % with relative standard deviation 2.6 %–9.8 %. LOD was in the range of 0.04 μg/g to 0.16 μg/g and LOQ was in the range of 0.16 μg/g to 0.8 μg/g. Matrix effects were also evaluated and ranged between 71.5 % and 111.3 %. Besides that, only 4 mL of extractant was required to perform one-step extraction and purification of the 17 hormones in LCH and NI with enhanced extraction efficiency. These results demonstrated satisfactory analytical performance of the present method comparing with conventional extraction methodologies. Successfully applied to herbal materials demonstrated robust performance in complex phytochemical systems, confirming SUPRAS extraction as an effective alternative to conventional techniques. • A supramolecular solvent -based extraction approach was developed for sample pretreatment of two kinds of Traditional Chinese Medicine coupling with HPLC-MS/MS. • ·17 sex hormones in herbs were simultaneously detected by the current analytical strategy. • ·This method was beneficial for extracting target substances from herbs