ABSTRACT
AIM: To establish a novel method for the overall quality control of Fructus Gardeniae by HPLC digitized fingerprint and its normalization. METHODS: The chromatographic fingerprints were obtained by injecting 5 ?L of the sample solution each time on a Century SIL C_ 18 BDS column (20 cm?4.6 mm, 5 ?m) with the gradient elution solvent system composed of 1% acetate acid-water and 1% acetate acid- acetonitrile. The flow rate was 1.0 mL /min, the column temperature was maintained at (30?0.15)℃ and the detection wavelength was set at 265 nm. The chromatographic fingerprints were evaluated by the digitized parameters, such as the chromatographic fingerprint index (F), quantitative similarity, etc,. The influence of big peak on similarity was elaborated by direction cosines, and its cancellation was achieved by the qualitative similarity of peak area ratio. RESULTS: 35 co-possessing peaks were selected as the fingerprint peaks of Fructus Gardeniae by taking Geniposide peak as the reference peak. The HPLC digitized fingerprint and its normalization were implemented. CONCLUSION: This method with good precision and reproducibility can be useful in the quality control of Fructus Gardeniae.