Analysis of Ginsenosides Rb₁ and Rg₁ Digestion Products in vitro Based on UHPLC-TSQ MS

A method of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TSQ MS) was used to study the products of protopanaxadiol ginsenoside Rb₁ and protopanaxatriol ginsenoside Rg₁ in simulated digestion solution in vitro for researching the digestion characteristics of ginsenoside. The resullt showed that ginsenoside Rd, Rg₃, Rg₅, and Rk₁ are found in the digestion products of ginsenoside Rb₁. In addition, ginsenoside F₂ is found in the simulated intestinal juice, suggesting that it is the peculiar degradation product. Therefore, the degradation pathways of ginsenoside Rb₁ are as follows: ginsenoside Rb₁→ginsenoside Rd→insenoside Rg₃→ginsenoside Rg₅/Rk₁, ginsenoside Rb₁→ginsenoside Rd→ginsenoside F₂. In the digestive fluids of Rg₁, both F₁ and Rh₁ are identified. The degradation pathways of ginsenoside Rg₁ are determined to be: ginsenoside Rg₁→ginsenoside F₁ and ginsenoside Rg₁→ginsenoside Rh_1. The results showed that the contents of degradation products in simulated saliva, simulated gastric juice and simulated intestinal juice change with the digestion time. The digestion products ginsenoside Rd, Rg₃, Rg₅ and Rk₁ of ginsenoside Rb₁ are the highest after 2-6 h of simulated gastric juice digestion. Ginsenoside F₂ is only produced in simulated intestinal juice to digest, in simulated intestinal juice to digest after 4 h content to the maximum. In simulated intestinal fluid, the degradation products of ginsenosides Rb₁ and Rg₁ are the highest at 4-6 h of digestion. Ginsenoside Rg₁ is degraded in the mock digest to generate F₁ and Rh₁. Degradation products in simulated saliva, gastric juice and intestinal juice content gradually increased, in simulated gastric juice to digest its content reached the highest after 2 h. The degradation of ginsenosides in simulated saliva is milder compared to simulated gastric juice and simulated intestinal juice. However, the degradation products in simulated gastric juice are more abundant than in simulated intestinal juice. In the process of digestion, ginsenoside Rg₁ degrades more easily than Rb₁. Ginsenosides Rg₁ and Rb₁ are hydrolyzed in the digestive tract to produce a variety of small molecular saponins, which provide an important chemical and biological basis for the development and utilization of ginsenosides.