RESUMO
To develop a RP-HPLC method for the determination of catechin (C),epicatechin (EC),gallic acid (GA)and procyanidin B2 (PCB2 )in procyanidins and compare the contents of C,EC,GA and PCB2 in procyani-dins purchased from different manufacturers.A RP-HPLC method was developed and the determination was car-ried out on a Hypersil ODS2 column (4.0 mm ×200 mm,5 μm).The mobile phase consisted of methanol and 2% acetic acid with gradient elution and the detection wave-length was at 280 nm.There was a good linear rela-tionship between concentration and the peak area in the range of 0.1-50 μg/mL (r =0.998 6)for catechin,0.1-50 μg/mL (r =0.994 5)for epicatechin,0.05-50 μg/mL (r =0.999 9)for gallic acid and 0.1-50 μg/mL (r =0.992 2)for procyanidin B2 ,respectively.The average recoveries of catechin,epicatechin,gallic acid and PCB2 were 98.36%,98.21%,89.60% and 98.47%,respectively and the RSDs were 1.39%,0.84%,2.12% and 2.46%,respectively.The method is simple,accurate,reproducible and can be used for assay of C,EC,GA,PCB2 in procyanidins.There was a great difference in the content of four substance in procyanidins purchased from dif-ferent manufacturers.