Determination of main taxoids in Taxus species by microwave‐assisted extraction combined with LC‐MS/MS analysis

A method based on microwave‐assisted extraction (MAE) has been developed for the determination of paclitaxel and five related taxoids, namely 10‐deacetylbaccatin III (10‐DAB III), cephalomannine, 10‐deacetylpaclitaxel (10‐DAT), 7‐xyl‐10‐ deacetylpaclitaxel (7‐xyl‐10‐DAT), and 7‐epi‐10‐deacetylpaclitaxel (7‐epi‐10‐DAT) in Taxus species in this study. The influential parameters of the MAE procedure were optimized, and the optimal conditions were as follows: extraction solvent 80% ethanol solution, solid/liquid ratio 1:10 (g/mL), temperature 50°C, and three extraction cycles, each cycle 10 min. The method validation for LC‐MS/MS analysis was performed. The LOD and LOQ were 3.16–9.20 and 12.20–30.45 ng/mL, respectively. Repeatability and reproducibility for the six taxiods with RSD ranged from 2.78 to 3.85% and from 5.26 to 6.60%. The recoveries of the method for the six taxoids were 92.6–105.6%. The developed MAE‐LC‐MS/MS method was also successfully applied to determine the contents of six taxoids in different Taxus species.