Non-targeted metabolomic analysis on multidrug resistance hepatocellular carcinoma cell and reversal effect of annonaceous acetogenins.

•A UFLC-MS/MS method was developed to investigate the mechanism of multidrug resistance in SMMC 7721 cell line.•A metabolomics approach was used to investigate the underlying mechanism of ACGs’ anti-multidrug resistance effect.•Identification on biomarkers was based on accurate mass, isotope difference and MS/MS fragmentations.•This is the first time to compare the activity of different compositions using system biological methods.