HPLC fingerprints of polygonum cuspidatum power and polygonum cuspidatum ointment and simultaneous determination of six constituents

Abstract

Polygonum Cuspidate (P. cuspidatum) is a traditional topical preparation of Chinese medicine. The aim of this study was to develop HPLC fingerprints for P. cuspidatum Powder and P. cuspidatum Ointment, as well as to determine the total stilbene and total anthraquinone contents in them. A XB-C18 column (250 ​mm ​× ​4.6 ​mm, 5 ​μm) was used with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% phosphoric acid solution-acetonitrile and a gradient elution. The flow rate was 1.0 ​ml/min and the detection wavelength was 286 ​nm. The column temperature was 30 ​°C and injection volume was 10 ​μl. The similarity evaluation system for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine (2012 edition) was employed to confirm the common peaks at 13 batches of samples and to assess the similarity. The study revealed that 20 common peaks were identified in both P. cuspidatum powder and P. cuspidatum ointment, with a similarity greater than 0.95. Amongst them, seven components were attributed and confirmed, which were identified as polydatin, resveratrol, emodin-8-glucoside, aloe-emodin, rhein, emodin and physcion. Under the established conditions of the chromatography, quantitative analysis of six components could be well separated, and had a good linearity and linear range, the precision, repeatability and stability were good. The method's efficacy in assessing the quality of P. cuspidatum powder and P. cuspidatum ointment is validated, and it can be employed for quality control purposes.