ABSTRACT
Objective:To develop an HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of four active ingredients ( psoralen, ber-gapten, desmethylwedelolactone and wedelolactone) in Xichuan pills. Methods: A Hypersil C18 column was used for the chromato-graphic separation of the four analytes. The mobile phase consisting of methanol-acetonitrile (2∶ 1) and 0. 5% glacial acetic acid solu-tion was used for gradient elution. The flow rate was 1. 1 ml·min-1 . The column temperature was 25℃. Psoralen and bergapten were detected at 222 nm, and desmethylwedelolactone and wedelolactone were detected at 351 nm. Results:There was good linear relation-ship between the concentration of psoralen, bergapten, desmethylwedelolactone and wedelolactone and peak area within the concentra-tion range of 5.380-107.600 μg·ml-1(r =0.999 5),6.870-137.400 μg·ml-1(r =0.999 7),4.580-91.600 μg·ml-1(r =0. 999 2) and 7. 300-146. 000 μg·ml-1(r=0. 999 9),respectively. The average recovery(RSD) was 96. 82%(0. 77%), 98. 81%(1. 40%),99. 06%(1. 20%) and 98. 39% (0. 80%), respectively (n=6). Conclusion:The developed method is accurate, highly sensitive and well reproducible, which can be used for the determination of the four active ingredients in Xichuan pills.