Simultaneous Determination of Protopine,Tetrahydropalmatine and Palmatine by HPLC Method in Rhizoma Corydalis Decumbentis

Aim To establish an HPLC method for simultaneous determination of protopine,tetrahydropalmatine and palmatine in Rhizoma Corydalis decumbentis.Methods The RP-HPLC method was used to determine the content of protopine,tetrahydropalmatine and palmatine. The samples were separated on Diamosil C18 column with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-0.2% glacial acetic acid (21∶79,pH adjusted to 4.5 with ammonium acetate) at the wavelength of 282nm. Results The linear range was 1.896~75.84 μg·mL-1 for protopine,1.97~78.8μg·mL-1 for tetrahydropalmatine and 1.346~67.32μg·mL-1 for palmatine hydrochloride. The average recovery of the three components was 101.29%,100.77%,and 100.54%,respectively,and RSD was less than 1.5%.Conclusion The HPLC method is simple,accurate,reproducible,highly selective and can be used to determine alkaloids simultaneously in Rhizoma Corydalis decumbentis.