Phytochemical Analysis of Twelve Marker Analytes in Sogunjung-tang Using a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method

Abstract

Sogunjung-tang (SGJT) is a traditional herbal prescription that has been used in Korea for the treatment of abdominal pain since ancient times. In this study, an analytical method for the simultaneous quantification of 12 marker analytes (gallic acid (GA), albiflorin (ALB), paeoniflorin (PAE), liquiritin apioside (LIAP), liquiritin (PIQ), benzoic acid (BA), coumarin (COU), liquiritigenin (LIQG), cinnamic acid (CINA), benzoylpaeoniflorin (BPAE), cinnamaldehyde (CINAD), and glycyrrhizinic acid (GLYA)) for quality evaluation of SGJT was developed based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with a photodiode array detector. A Waters SunFire reverse-phased C18 column was used for the chromatographic separation of the 12 marker analytes in SGJT using a two-mobile phases system consisting of 0.1% (v/v) aqueous formic acid and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid in acetonitrile. The developed analytical method was validated by assessment of linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, recovery, and precision. Using the developed and validated HPLC method, the 12 marker analytes were determined to be present in 0.10–32.83 mg/g in SGJT.