Simultaneous Quantification of a Herbal Combination of Pueraria lobata, Salvia miltiorrhiza and Panax notoginseng by Rapid Resolution Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

Pueraria lobata, Salvia miltiorrhiza and Panax notoginseng are traditional Chinese medicines which have been used for thousands of years either singly or in combination. However, the quality of formulas containing either all or part of the three herbs is, at present, controlled by only one or two easily detectable compounds.. A rapid resolution liquid chromatography (RRLC) method has been developed for the quality control of the three herbs in combination through ten active ingredients originating from the raw herbs. The analysis was achieved in a run of less than 25 minutes. Using the same method, the finger-prints of the three herbs are detectable in the chromatogram, and so the method could be applied for identification of different species in the same genus. Four formula preparations {xinkeshu capsule (XKSC), xinkeshupian (XKSP), fufang-danshenpian (FFDSP), and naodeshengpian (NDSP)} were analyzed by this new RRLC method. Controlling only one or two easily detectable ingredients is far from enough to assure the quality of the formula preparations. However, controlling multiple ingredients originating from the raw herbs and their ratios is an effective and feasible approach to solve this problem.