RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To establish a method for content determination of ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, saikosaponin a, saikosaponin d, and saikosaponin B2 in 70% ethanol elution effective fraction of Chaihu plus Longgu Muli decoction by HPLC-ELSD. METHODS: A Diamonsil C18 column(4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) was used as the stationary phase and the mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and water. Gradient elution was carried out at the flow rate of 1.0 mL·min-1. The column temperature was maitained at 30 ℃. The ELSD detector was operated at 105℃ with nebulizing gas at the optimum flow rate of 2.5 L·min-1. RESULTS: The average contents of ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Rb1, saikosaponin a, saikosaponin d, and saikosaponin B2 were 0.474%, 1.372%, 1.554%, 0.883%, and 2.073%, respectively. The calibration curves were linear in the ranges of 1.820-9.10, 1.810-9.050, 1.130-10.170, 0.420-2.100, and 3.125-15.625 μg, respectively. The RSDs of precision, reproducibility and recovery were all less than 3.0%. CONCLUSION: The method is rapid, simple, reliable and accurate, and has been successfully used to the quantification of five components in 70% ethanol elution effective fraction of Chaihu plus Longgu Muli decoction, which can provide a basis for the quality evaluation of Chaihu plus Longgu Muli decoction.