Abstract: Objective: To simultaneously determine 18 anthocyanin monomers in red wine using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Methods: Wine samples were diluted 500 times with acidified methanol solution containing 1% formic acid (V/V) before being filtrated. The filtrate was separated by gradient elution chromatography on a phenyl-hexyl column. Detection was carried out using an electrospray ionization source in the positive ion mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The mass spectrometric conditions were as follows: curtain gas 30 psi, ion spray (IS) voltage 5 500 V, and ion source temperature 500 ℃. The analysis took 20 min. Results: The recoveries of the analytes at spiked levels of 10.0, 20.0 and 50.0 μg/L were between 95% and 100%, and the calibration curve for each analyte exhibited a correlation coefficient (R2) of greater than 0.999. The precision, expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD), ranged between 1.71% and 2.87%. The limits of detection (LOD) were between 0.2 and 3.5 μg/L, and the limits of quantitation (LOQ) were between 0.4 and 11.5 μg/L. Conclusion: This method was characterized by simple pretreatment, high sensitivity, short analysis time, shorter time and good precision and accuracy and could be applied to detect individual anthocyanins in red wine.

Key words: monomer anthocyanin, red wine, ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry