ABSTRACT
Objective: To establish a high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) method for the determination of high molecular weight substances in ginkgo diterpene lactone extraction. Methods: The chromatographic column Phenomenex Biosep-SEC-S2000 (300 mm × 7.8 mm, 5 μm) was used with 0.05 mol/L sodium sulfate as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min, with refractive index detector (RID), and the temperature of the column was 30℃. High molecular weight substances in samples were calculated with area normalization method. Results: In the range of 2 500-84 400 of substance molecular weights, a linearity was achieved (r = 0.998 3). The average recovery rate was 96.8%, and RSD was 1.5%. The high molecular weight substances in five batches of ginkgo diterpene lactone extraction were not detected. Conclusion: This method is simple, quick, accurate, and suitable for the quality control of high molecular weight substances in ginkgo diterpene lactone extraction.