Abstract

We established an UPLC-photodiode array (PDA) detection method to determine simultaneously 12 components, namely Gallic acid, Ferulaic acid, Liquiritin, Benzoic acid, Lobetyolin, Liquiritigenin, Calycosin, Isoliquiritigenin, Formononetin, Glycyrrhizic acid, Atractylenolide III, Glycyrrhetinic acid in traditional Chinese Si-Jun- Zi-Tang (SJZT) formula. They were analyzed in less than 38 min on Acquity UPLC system with Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column and acetonitrile -0.5% aqueous acetic acid with gradient elution (0 min, 0:100; 5 min, 3:97; 8 min, 15:85; 20 min, 30:70; 30 min, 40:60; 35 min, 0:40; 40 min, 100: 0) at a flow rate of 0.3 ml/min, and with a PDA detector. All calibration curves showed good linear regression (r² ≥0.9991) within the test ranges. The LOD was lower to 0.0065 to 0.137 µg/ml on column. The overall intra- and inter-day variations of 12 components were lower than 3.61%. These results showed that the method was applied to the simultaneous determination of 12 components in SJZT for quick and reliable quality control, and was validated for specificity, accuracy, precision, repeatability and limit of detection.

Key words: Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography UPLC-PDA, Si-Jun-Zi-Tang, bioactive compounds.