Preparative isolation and purification of harpagoside and angroside C from the root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsley by high-speed counter-current chromatography

In this study, the bioactive component harpagoside and angroside C in the root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsley was simultaneously separated by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). A two-phase solvent system containing chloroform/n-butanol/methanol/water (4:1:3:2, v/v/v/v) was selected following consideration of the partition coefficient of the target compound. The crude extract (200 mg) was loaded onto a 280-mL HSCCC column and yielded 22 mg harpagoside and 31 mg angroside C with the purity of higher than 98 and 98.5%, respectively. It is feasible to isolate active compounds harpagoside and angroside C from S. ningpoensis using HSCCC.