Determination of main chemical components in the Astragali Radix from the Liupan mountain area in Ningxia / 国际药学研究杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To quantitatively determine the bioactive chemical components, polysaccharides, total flavonoids and total saponins, in the Astragali radix from the Liupan mountain area (Liupan mountain Astragali radix) in Ningxia of China. Methods With colorimetry and high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light-scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD), the total quantity of polysaccharides flavonoids and saponins were determined for the one year-old and four years-old Liupan mountain Astragali radix, which was further analyzed in comparison with the results of the Astragali radix from Shanxi province (Shanxi Astragali radix) of China. Results The content of total polysaccharides, total flavonoids and total saponins was 4.10％, 0.088％ and 4.67％, respectively, in the four-year-old Liupan mountain Astragali radix. Among them, the total polysaccharide content was higher than that in Shanxi Astragali radix, the others were all lower than those in Shanxi Astragali radix. Further, the contents of the three total components in the one year-old Liupan mountain Astragali radix were all lower than those in the four years-old Liupan mountain Astragali radix and in the Shanxi Astragali radix. Conclusion Prolonging the growth period could significantly increase total content of the polysaccharides but not the flavonoids and saponins in the Liupan mountain Astragali radix.