A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method with photodiode array detection (HPLC-DAD) was developed for simultaneous determination of eight bioactive constituents (schisandrin, schisandrol B, schisantherin A, schisanhenol, anwulignan, deoxyshisandrin, schisandrin B and schisandrin C) in the ripe fruit of Schisandra sphenanthera and its traditional Chinese herbal preparations Wuzhi-capsule by optimizing the extraction, separation and analytical conditions of HPLC-DAD. The chemical fingerprint of S. sphenanthera was established using raw materials of 15 different origins in China. The chromatographic separations were obtained by an Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 reserved-phase column (250 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm) using gradient elution with water-formic acid (100:0.1, v/v) and acetonitrile, at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1), an operating temperature of 35 degrees C, and a wavelength of 230 nm. The constituents were confirmed by (+) electrospray ionization LC-MS. The new method was validated and was successfully applied to simultaneous determination of components in 13 batches of Wuzhi-capsule. The results indicate that this multi-component determination method in combination with chromatographic fingerprint analysis is suitable for quantitative analysis and quality control of S. sphenanthera.
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