Study on UPLC fingerprint of red ginseng based on good separation and good purity of chromatographic peaks

Abstract

This study is to establish the UPLC fingerprint of red ginseng. The separation was performed on a Waters Acquity BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 mm × 50 mm,1.7 μm), with the mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and water for gradient elution. The detection wavelength was set at 203 nm. The UPLC fingerprint of red ginseng was established by using sample chromatography of 22 different purchase areas and 26 common peaks were found. Compared with the reference substances, 11 of the common peaks were identified as ginsenosides Rg₁, ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rf, ginsenoside Rh₁, ginsenoside Rg₂, ginsenoside Rb₁, 20(S)-ginsenoside F₁, ginsenoside Rb₂, ginsenoside Rb3, 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg₃ and 20(R)-ginsenoside Rg₃, respectively. It is worth noting that 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg₃ and 20(R)-ginsenoside Rg₃ are the characteristic ingredients of red ginseng, and they could be used not only for distinguishing red ginseng and ginseng, but also for process controlling of the preparation of red ginseng. The similarity was analyzed with' Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Chinese Materia Medica, and the similarity of 18 batches samples is up to 0.9. Compared to the literature methods, the method is simple, time-saving,specific for the separation of ginsenosides from red ginseng. So, this method could be used for the species identification and quality control of ginseng, red ginseng and American ginseng, and it will alsoprovide a theoretical basis of raising quality standards of the above mentioned Chinese herb medicines.