The Retention Behavior of Ginsenosides in HPLC and Its Application to Quality Assessment of Radix Ginseng

This study systematically investigated the retention behavior of seven neutral ginsenosides Rg(1), Re, Rf, Rb-1, Rb-2, Rc, Rd, and an acidic ginsenoside R-0, the major pharmacologically active components of Radix Ginseng with RP-HPLC. The effects of solvent, pH value, ionic strength of the mobile phase, and column temperature were investigated using an octadecylsiloxane-bonded silica gel column. Based on the ginsenosides' retention characteristics, the concentration of acetonitrile and the gradient of the mobile phase needed to maintain the baseline separation of the major neutral ginsenosides in Radix Ginseng were theoretically predicted. Furthermore, the ionic strength of mobile-phase necessary to achieve good resolution of the neutral ginsenosides and acidic ginsenosides was carefully investigated. According to the results of the quantitative analysis of ginsenosides in eight batches of ginseng samples from different sources, the developed HPLC technique may be a valuable tool for the quality assessment of Radix Ginseng.