OBJECTIVETo determine the content of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in Sinopodophyllum emodi Ying from different areas and evaluate the resource utilization of this endangered medicinal plant.

METHODHPLC and UV spectrophotometry were used to determine the content of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in 126 samples from different habitats and the total lignans content was determined by the reference wavelength method.

RESULTAccording to the results, the highest content was determined from the samples from Yongdeng Nature Reserve in Gansu province, and the lowest ones was found in the samples from Tibet. The former's podophyllotoxin and total lignans contents were 7.40% and 20.66%, respectively, which were 19 times and 4 times more than those of the latter. The content of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in S. emodi were significantly positively related, meanwhile, samples from both low altitude and high latitude showed the higher content.

CONCLUSIONThe two determination methods are simple, rapid, accurate and repeatable. It is more scientific and rational to evaluate the resource utilization of S. emodi with two indicators, those are the content of podophyllotoxin and the content of total lignans. This paper is instructive to the collection of wild resources and the establishment of production bases.