ABSTRACT
Objective To establish the fingerprints and formononetin content determination method for Caulis Spatholobi from different habitats by high performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC) , thus to control the quality of Caulis Spatholobi. Methods Reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) for fingerprint was performed on Feini Gen RedClassical AQ-C18 column ( 4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm) with acetonitrile-0.1%acetic acid solution as the mobile phase by gradient elution, and the detection wavelength was 260 nm. High performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector ( HPLC-DAD) for the determination of formononetin content was performed on AcclaimTM 120-C18 column ( 4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm) with acetonitrile-water solution by isocratic elution, the detection wavelength was 254 nm, the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min and the column temperature was 25℃. Results The standard fingerprint of Caulis Spatholobi was set up through the evaluation of the fingerprints of 24 batches of Caulis Spatholobi samples from different habitats. Thirteen common peaks were identified with reference to formononetin peak, and the content of formononetin was determined by HPLC-DAD method. The similarity of the fingerprints of Caulis Spatholobi from different habitats and their formononetin content had great differences. Conclusion The established method is simple, accurate, highly sensitive, and repeatable, and can be applied for the quality control of Caulis Spatholobi.