Authentication and ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)/MS analysis of magic mint, Salvia divinorum and its related plants

Abstract

Ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)/mass spectrometry (MS) analysis was performed to investigate whether commercial Salvia cultivars available in the Japanese market contain salvinorin A (1), which is an hallucinogen present in magic mint (Salvia divinorum) prior to the regulation of S. divinorum by the Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law. In addition, a previously reported method to authenticate S. divinorum, utilizing an amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) was applied to the same samples to estimate the method's accuracy. As a result of the UPLC/MS analysis, it was clear that none of the tested cultivars possessed 1 while S. divinorum leaves and its processed products "concentrated salvia" contained 1 in the range from 0.19% to 0.58%. Furthermore, the ARMS method could clearly distinguish S. divinorum from the tested cultivars. In conclusion, the authentication method is considered to be useful for the practical regulation of S. divinorum due to its simplicity and accuracy. © 2008 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.