Simultaneous Determination of Baicalin, Berberine and Rhein by HPLC in Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine Sanhuang Tablets

Aim To establish a reversed phase liquid chromatographic method for simultaneous determination of three main medicinal constituents, baicalin, berberine and rhein, in Sanhuang tablets. Methods The separation was performed on a Kromasil C_ 18 column with TEA-adjusted 0.02 mol·L -1 H_3PO_4 (pH 6.78)-acetonitrile-methanol (40∶9∶7) as mobile phase at a flow-rate of 1.0 mL·min -1, with detection at 254 nm. Considering interaction between acidic and alkaline compounds, three standard markers were added respectively and the volume of sample solution was doubled in recovery experiments. Results Three regression equations revealed excellent linear relationship between the peak areas and concentrations and the correlation coefficients all surpassed 0.999 8. The average recovery was 96.1% (RSD=2.1%)baicalin, 98.5% (RSD=2.4%) for berberine, and 101.5% (RSD=1.3%) for rhein. Conclusion The method developed can be used to control the quality of Sanhuang tablets comprehensively.