ABSTRACT
A simple and reliable method of high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) was developed to evaluate the quality of a traditional Chinese medicine Sophora flavescens through establishing chromatographic fingerprint and simultaneous determination of five flavonoids, including trifolirhizin, maackiain, kushenol I, kurarinone and sophoraflavanone G. The optimal conditions of separation and detection were achieved on an ULTIMATE XB-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) with a gradient of acetonitrile and water, detected at 295 nm. In the chromatographic fingerprint, 13 peaks were selected as the characteristic peaks to assess the similarities of different samples collected from different origins in China according to similarity evaluation for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional chinese medicine (2004AB) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used in data analysis. There were significant differences in the fingerprint chromatograms between S. flavescens and S. tonkinensis. Principal component analysis showed that kurarinone and sophoraflavanone G were the most important component. In quantitative analysis, the five components showed good regression (R > 0.999) with linear ranges, and their recoveries were in the range of 96.3% - 102.3%. This study indicated that the combination of quantitative and chromatographic fingerprint analysis can be readily utilized as a quality control method for S. flavescens and its related traditional Chinese medicinal preparations.