Identification and quantification of compounds with Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory activity in licorice by UPLC-MS

•AIE fluorescent probe was used to rapidly discover active compounds from licorice.•Nine components of licorice were found to have excellent ACE inhibitory activity.•46 constituents were identified in these nine active components.•Seven active compounds were found out and three among them were firstly discovered.•An UPLC-Q-MS method was developed to quantify the five major active compounds.