Abstract: Objective: To identify the chemical components of the methanol extract from Cimicifuga dahurica. Methods: High-resolution mass spectrometric data of the extract were collected by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). Through molecular feature extraction (MFE), Masshunter software was then used to process the original MS data. Several candidate compounds that may be derived from C. dahurica were obtained. Furthermore, the structures of these compounds were speculated according to their MS fragmentation patterns and confirmed by comparison with reference standards. Results: A total of 38 compounds were identified, including phenylpropanoids, saponins, chromones, and nitrogenous compounds. Conclusion: UPLC-Q-TOF-MS can be applied to identify the chemical components of C. dahurica.

Key words: Cimicifuga dahurica, ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight-tandem mass spectrometry, qualitative analysis of chemical constituents