Essential oil of Nardostachys jatamansi (D. Don) DC. (EONJ) is the main form of application of N. jatamansi alone (eg, Jatamansi oil). Recently, clinical trials have proved that aromatherapy with the EONJ could alleviate anxiety and depression [1], and pharmacological experiments showed that the EONJ could also target the MAOA gene to relieve myocardial damage caused by sleep deprivation [2]. Besides, EONJ was frequently used in Chinese medicinal prescriptions, such as Wenxin Keli granules and Shensong Yangxin capsules, two most commonly used Chinese patent medicines with better clinical efficacies in the treatment of ventricular premature beats caused by coronary heart disease [3,4]. And, EONJ has been recognized as one of the quality markers of N. jatamansi, as adopted in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia [5].

Previously, GC–MS combined with chemometrics analysis method (CRM) has been frequently applied for chemical investigations on EONJ [6], in which the common constituents were mainly sesquiterpenes or sesquiterpene alcohols such as calarene, β-maaliene, valerena-4,7(11)-diene, aristolene, seychellene, valencene, patchouli alcohol, maaliol, α-maaliene, and globulol [[7], [8], [9]]. However, few practical methods have been developed to authenticate and quantify the sesquiterpenone constituents in EONJ, not to mention these major and vasodilatory active aristolane-type sesquiterpenones [10], including aristolone and kanshone H, which could’t be accurately determined qualitatively and quantitatively through conventional GC/EI-MS analysis. Fortunately, ultra-performance convergence chromatography (UPC2) has been commercialized as a novel chromatographic technique of supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) [11,12], which is adept at analyzing the low polarity, thermally unstable, and non-volatile compounds that are difficult to be analyzed using conventional GC method, and it can be also helpful in analysis of compounds decomposing in presence of water and alcohol such as pesticides and some plant metabolites [[13], [14], [15]]. The application space of SFC ranges across most of the combined application space of HPLC and gas chromatography (GC) [14].

In this study, UPC2-QTOF-MS and UPC2-PDA were employed for the first time in the authentication and quantitative determination of the common sesquiterpenoids in EONJ. Specifically, the chemical profile of EONJ was simultaneously characterized by GC/EI-MS and UPC2-QTOF-MS methods, and a rapid, highly reliable, and environmental-friendly UPC2-PDA method was then firstly developed for simultaneous quantification of its three major sesquiterpenone constituents, including 1,8,9,10-tetradehydroaristolan-2-one, aristolone, and kanshone H. Herein, we explored the application of UPC2 in the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of EONJ, supplying an optional quality control method for those commercial formulations containing N. jatamansi or those with 1,8,9,10-tetradehydroaristolan-2-one, aristolone, and kanshone H as the main active constituents.