Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: HPLC was used for the quantitative determination of glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid in Fuzilizhong Pills. For the determination of glycyrrhizic acid, the separation was carried out on a Kromasil C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with methanol-diethyl ether-water-acetic acid (60:6:34:3, volume ratio) as the mobile phase. The detection wavelength was set at 248 nm. For glycyrrhetinic acid, a Century SIL C18 BDS column (200 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with the gradient elution solvent system was used, and the detection wavelength was 250 nm. The flow rate was 1.0 mL·min-1, and the column temperature was maintained at (30±0.5) ºC. The calibration curve showed a good linearity over the range 40-800 μg·ml-1 for glycyrrhizic acid, and the mean recovery was 97.9 % (RSD %=0.5 %). The linearity range was 7.6-152 μg·ml-1 for glycyrrhetinic acid, and the mean recovery was 101.2 % (RSD %=1.6 %). The methods are both simple and accurate, and can be used for the determination of glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid in Fuzilizhong Pills.

Key words: Fuzilizhong Pills, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, HPLC, determination