Study on methodology for determination of main alkaloids in Rhizoma Coptidis by HPLC

Objective To establish an HPLC method to determine the main alkaloids of the Coptidis for Chinese Pharmacopoeia of 2010 edition.Methods The C18 column was used.The mobile phase was CH3CN-50 mmol/L KH2PO4(50∶50)(containing 15 mmol/L SDS and adjusting pH=4.0 with H3PO4) at the flow rate of 0.6 ml/min,the detective wavelength was 345 nm and the column temperature was 30℃.Results The linear ranges of epiberberine hydrochloride,coptisine hydrochloride,palmatine hydrochloride and berberine hydrochloride were at 0.0113-0.7240 μg,0.0218-1.3920 μg,0.0148-0.9440 μg and 0.0719-4.6020 μg respectively.The average recoveries were 98.61%,99.70%,98.26%and100.20%;and RSD were 1.4%,1.3%and1.3%,1.5% respectively.Conclusion The method is simple and accurate,and can be used to determine the contents of epiberberine,coptisine,palmatine,and berberine in the Coptidis.