Studies on Quality Evaluation of Radix Paeoniae Alba

Radix Paeoniae Alba contains various compounds and so determination of only one marker is not reasonable for the quality evaluation of this herb. A new quality evaluation method for Radix Paeoniae Alba have been established by combining the quantitative analysis of main marker with the similarity evaluation of chromatographic fingerprint. The HPLC fingerprinting was carried out on 28 batches of commercial Radix Paeoniae Alba to develop the HPLC fingerprint common pattern, of which the characteristic peaks were screened by weighted median method. LC/MS/MS was used to assign the characteristic peaks of the established common patter. Nine of eleven characteristic peaks were chemically assigned, 5 peaks by comparison with reference standards and 4 peaks based on their retention behavior and UV spectra and their MS/MS fragmentation patterns. The 9 peaks were identified as (+)-catechin, methyl gallate, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, tetragalloyl glucose, galloylpaeoniflorin, pentagalloyl glucose, mudanpioside I and benzoylpaeoniflorin, respectively. The quantitative method of paeoniflorin was also established. All of samples yielded similar HPLC fingerprint profiles, which meant they possessed stable chemical composition and similar chemical pattern. The established method gives a holistic quality evaluation on chemical substance as well as involves a quantitative method for the marker paeoniflorin, which shows the characteristics and specificity of Radix Paeoniae Alba.

Acknowledgements: This work is funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (30901968).