Abstract:

A LC-MS method was established for determination of botanical cosmetics claimed to contain ingredients from Glycyrrhiza uralensis. The sample was dispersed by saturated solution of sodium chloride and was ultrasonically extracted with acetonitrile. 0.1% formic acid water-acetonitrile was used as the mobile phase for gradient elution at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. Multiple reaction monitoring （MRM） mode was used for detection. The four components had good linear relationship within their respective range. The average recovery rate was 85%-104%, the RSD was 1.1%-10.0%, and the detection limit of the method was between 1 and 15 ng/g; 12 batches of samples were tested and the coincidence rate thereof was 41.6%. The test results indicate that the presence and the amount of ingredients from Glycyrrhiza uralensis are actually relatively low in as-claimed cosmetics. In other words, there are conceptual marketing and false publicity and thus relevant supervision should be strengthened.

Key words: LC-MS, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, cosmetics