Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of four major
bioactive compounds, protocatechic acid, catechin, acteoside and quercetin, contained in Qirong pills. The optimal conditions
involved separation on a Diamonsil-C18 column (200 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) using a gradient elution with a mobile phase of
methanol-1% glacial acetic acid aqueous solution with the detection at 260 nm. Excellent linearity was obtained over the
investigated concentration ranges, with the values of r higher than 0.999 for all the analytes. The recoveries, measured at three
concentration levels, varied from 99.8% to 103.4%. The results indicate that the method is reproducible, precise and can be used
for the quality control of Qirong pills.

Key words: Qirong Pills, protocatechic acid, catechin, acteoside, quercetin, HPLC