RESUMO
AIM To study the correlations between colors and contents of nine active constituents of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge.with four growth years (one,two,three and five years).METHODS The chromatic values (L*,a* and b*) were determined by precise color difference meter.HPLC was applied to determining the contents of water-soluble constituents (lithospermic acid,salvianolic acid B,rosmarinic acid,protocatechuic aldehyde acid and salvianic acid A sodium) and liposoluble-soluble constituents (dihydrotanshinone Ⅰ,cryptotanshinone,tanshinone Ⅰ and tanshinone Ⅱ A).Then the correlations between colors and contents of various constituents were investigated by Pearson correlation analysis.RESULTS L* and b * values of two growth-year S.miltiorrhiza,together with a* value of three growth-year S.miltiorrhiza,were the highest,but various chromatic values of five growth-year S.miltiorrhiza were all the lowest.The contents of various constituents in three growth-year S.miltiorrhiza reached the highest.Lithospermic acid and salvianic acid A sodium showed no significant correlations with various chromatic values,salvianolic B,rosmarinic acid and tanshinone Ⅱ A exhibited significantly positive correlations with them,and protocatechuic aldehyde had significantly negative correlations with them.CONCLUSION The quality of three growth-year S.miltiorrhiza is relatively high.