RESUMEN
Objective To establish a HPLC method for the determination of geniposide in Mengning Tablets and to investigate the thermal stability of geniposide. Methods The content of geniposide in Mengning Tablets was determined on a E- clipse XDB-C_(18) column with a mobile phase consisting of 0.2% triethylamine (containing 0.1% phosphate) and acetonitrile (85: 15) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL?min~(-1) and detected at a wavelength of 240 nm. The thermal stability of geniposide was investigated by hyperthermal accelerated test. Results A linearity was obtained from 0. 10 ?g to 0.52 ?g of geniposide (r=0.9997, n=5) and the recovery was 98.92%(n=5). The variation of geniposide in Mengning Tablets was in first-order reaction and the expiry date of the medicine at normal temperature was 2.83 years when geniposide content was used as criteria. Conclusion This is a fast method for the determination of the expiry date of a Chinese patent medicine and this method is useful infor the development of a new medicine.