RESUMEN
To establish the fingerprints of Xiasangju granules (with sugar and non-sugar forms) by HPLC, and provide reference for their identification and effective quality control. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to collect the fingerprints of 20 batches of non-sugar Xiasangju granules and 34 batches of sugar type Xiasangju granules. Their main different components were classified and screened by mode identification methods (principal component analysis, PCA, and orthogonal partial least squares discriminate analysis, OPLS-DA). The principal components were identified by comparing with reference standards. The fingerprints of Xiasangju granules (sugar type and non-sugar type) were established. PCA could not fully classify the two types of granules, while OPLS-DA could obviously classify these two different types of Xiasangju granules. Six components showed greatest difference between two types of granules, including salviaflaside, luteoloside and linarin. The developed mode identification method is helpful to control the overall quality of Xiasangju granules, and it provides an effective approach to quality evaluation.