Abstract
The total saponins extracted from the roots of Panax notoginseng have been regarded as the principal components manifesting the pharmacological activities of the drug. In order to compare the similarities and differences of microbial and mammalian metabolism of PNS, liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry has been applied to investigate the constituents and metabolites of the microbial transformations by three fungi Absidia coerulea, Acremonium strictum, and Curvularia lunata, and metabolism in rats. A total of thirty-seven peaks were detected and thirty-one peaks were identified by comparing the retention times and MS spectra with those of reference compounds and literature data. Twenty-eight peaks were found both in microbial and rat metabolism samples of PNS. Their structures were identified by comparison of the retention times and MS spectra with those of reference compounds. A number of isomers were identified after the metabolism.