A micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of seven hydrophilic phenolic acids and four lipophilic tanshinones in three Salvia species. In normal MEKC mode using SDS as surfactant, the investigated 11 compounds could not be well separated. Therefore, several buffer modifiers including β-cyclodextrins (β-CD), ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([bmim]BF4) and organic solvents have been added to the buffer solution to improve the separation selectivity. Under the optimized conditions (BGE, 15 mM sodium tetraborate with 10 mM SDS, 5 mM β-CD, 10 mM [bmim]BF4 and 15% ACN (v/v) as additives; buffer pH, 9.8; voltage, 20 kV; temperature, 25 °C), the 11 investigated analytes could achieve baseline separation in 34 min. The proposed MEKC was additionally validated by evaluating the linearity (R² ≥ 0.9965), LODs (0.27–1.39 μg·mL^–1), and recovery (94.26%–105.17%), demonstrating this method was reproducible, accurate and reliable. Moreover, the contents of the 11 compounds in three Salvia species, including S. miltiorrhiza, S. przewalskii and S. castanea were analyzed. The result showed that the established MEKC method was simple and practical for the simultaneous determination of the hydrophilic and lipophilic bioactive components in Salvia species, which could be used to effectively evaluate the quality of these valued medicinal plants. Full article

Lipidomics is an emerging field, where the structures, functions and dynamic changes of lipids in cells, tissues or body fluids are investigated. Due to the vital roles of lipids in human physiological and pathological processes, lipidomics is attracting more and more attentions. However, because of the diversity and complexity of lipids, lipid analysis is still full of challenges. The recent development of methods for lipid extraction and analysis and the combination with bioinformatics technology greatly push forward the study of lipidomics. Among them, mass spectrometry (MS) is the most important technology for lipid analysis. In this review, the methodology based on MS for lipid analysis was introduced. It is believed that along with the rapid development of MS and its further applications to lipid analysis, more functional lipids will be identified as biomarkers and therapeutic targets and for the study of the mechanisms of disease. Full article