ABSTRACT
Objective To reinvestigate the high performance thin-layer chromatography(HPTLC)method for solving the problem of difficulty in separating between ginsenoside-Re and notoginsenoside-R1,and to establish a specific,fast and economic routine identification and quality assessment method for Notoginseng(San Qi).Methods Chromatographic conditions were as follows:stationary phase-precoated HPTLC silica gel 60 plate(20? 10 cm,Merck);developing solvent system:CH2Cl2-absolute ethanol-water(70 ∶ 45 ∶ 6.5);relative humidity:lower than 18 % ;temperature:10～ 25 ℃ ;derivative reagent:10 % H2SO4 ethanolic solution,heating at 105 ℃ for 3 min and observing the fluorescent chromatogram in a UV cabinet at 366 nm.Results The HPTLC fingerprint consisted of 10 fluorescent bands(peaks in the profile)including ginsenoside-Rb1,Rd,Re,Rg1 and notoginsenoside-R1,which presented the relative consistent ratio of the main peaks generated from the image of the chemical components distribution pattern through scanning by TLC scanner or computer-aided similarity evaluation(CASE)software.Conclusion Notoginsenoside-R1,the specific component of San Qi,is spotlighted in the HPTLC image and separated from ginenoside-Re,which indicates HPTLC method being simple,fast,and effective.The HPTLC fingerprints of 24 batches of samples from different locations(Wenshan of Yunnan,Xinyi of Guangdong)and markets,with different grades show the high chemical stabilities of this Dammarane-type saponins distribution.