HPLC/UV Analysis of Polyacetylenes, Phenylpropanoid and Pyrrolidine Alkaloids in Medicinally Used Codonopsis Species

Introduction Codonopsis Radix is commonly used as a tonic in traditional Chinese medicine. However, there is no suitable method to assess the quality of Codonopsis Radix based on multiple components having potential bioactivities. Objective To establish a HPLC/UV method for simultaneous quantitation of polyacetylenes (lobetyol, lobetyolin, lobetyolinin, cordifolioidyne B), phenylpropanoid (tangshenoside I) and pyrrolidine alkaloids (codonopyrrolidiums A, B) in Codonopsis Radix. Methods Large-scale methanol extraction of Codonopsis Radix, followed by chromatographic separation, provided the seven analytes for quantitation standards. Ultrasound-assisted methanol extracts of samples were analysed using reversed phase, gradient elution HPLC monitored at 215 nm. Results The method developed allowed efficient separation of the seven compounds and the detection and quantitation limits of the seven analytes were 0.10-0.32 mu g/mL and 0.35-1.07 mu g/mL, respectively. All calibration curves showed good linearities (r > 0.9993) within the test ranges. Intraday and interday precisions were good with RSD < 2.84%. The recoveries of all analytes ranged from 95.8 to 104.7%. Conclusion HPLC/UV is an efficient and accurate method of analysis for simultaneous quantitation of seven components in Codonopsis Radix. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.