Analysis of rutin and quercetin in flower buds of wild Sophora japonica L. from different habitats by HPLC

AIM To establish an HPLC method to determine rutin and quercetin in flower buds of wild Sophora japonica L. from eight habitats. METHODS Rutin and quercetin of flower buds of S. Japonica were extracted by alkaline solution,and were determined by HPLC method. Chromatography was performed on an Agilient HC-C18( 4. 6 mm × 250 mm,5 μm) at 25 ℃,and mobile phase was composed of methanol-0. 4% phosphoric acid solution( 52 ∶ 48) with a flow rate of 0. 9 m L/min. The detection wavelength was set at 360 nm. RESULTS The linearity of rutin and quercetin were 2. 5- 80 μg / m L and 0. 625- 20 μg / m L,respectively,the average recoveries were100. 2% and 99. 1%,and their RSD were 2. 1% and 1. 1%( n = 6),respectively. The rutin content ranged from21. 48% to 28. 21%,while quercetin content ranged from 1. 15% to 1. 74%. CONCLUSION There are some differences in the contents of rutin and quercetin in flower buds of S. japonica in different habitats. Of these habitats the contents of rutin and querectin in the flower buds from Henan province are the highest.