Accumulation Locations and Contents Comparison of Total Saponins and Flavonoids in Vegetative Organs of Bupleurum scorzonerifolium Willd.

Using the paraffin sectioning,histochemistry and visible-spectrophotometry,we investigated the structures of vegetative organs(root,stem and leaf),and compared the accumulation localizations and contents of saponins and flavonoids in Bupleurum scorzonerifolium Willd.The results showed that:(1)The root consisted of periderm,pericyclic parenchyma tissue and secondary vascular tissue.The stem was composed of epidermis,cortex and vascular bundles.The leaf was isobilateral one.The vegetative organs all possessed characteristics adapting to arid environment.(2)Histochemical localization results showed that saponins distributed in vascular cambium,secondary phloem and partial pericyclic parenchyma cells in sec-ondary xylem of the root;In the stem,they distributed mainly in epidermis,cortex,vascular cambium and secondary phloem;In the leaf,they distributed in the epiderm,spongy and palisade.In the stem,flavonoids were located in epidermis,collenchyma lie in angularity and partial cortex cells;In the leaf,they were located mainly in the epidermis and the collenchyma lied in the leaf margin and the lower epidermis.And there were small amounts in the root.(3)The results of phytochemical tests showed that the contents of saponins in the root,stem and leaf were 2.635%,1.045% and 0.981%,respectively.However,the contents of flavonoids in the root,stem and leaf were 0.032%,1.212% and 2.259%,respectively.The phytochemical result was consistent with that of histochemistry.Research showed that,the accumulation of saponin in the root occupied first place and it had scientific gist that the main medical part was the dry root of B.scorzonerifolium Willd.inChinese Pharmacopoeia.Meanwhile,the content of flavonoids in the leaf was considerably high,thus to exploit the flavonoids in B.scorzonerifolium Willd.,its leaves should be mainly collected.