RESUMEN
Objective Establishing a fingerprint method to identify the characteristic chemicals in the roots of Gentiana macrophylla and evaluate their quality.Methods RP-HPLC was developed for fingerprint analysis and determination of four ingredients in G macrophylla roots from different sources.LC-ESI-TOF-MS was employed to identify the chromatographic peaks of the fingerprint.Results Five common peaks were identified by comparing their retention time with reference secoiridoid glucosides.Eight major peaks in chromatographic fingerprint were analyzed by on-line LC-ESI-TOF-MS.Four secoiridoid glucosides were identified based on their MS data.Conclusion The method is specific and could be served for the quality identification and comprehensive evaluation of G macrophylla.