OBJECTIVEFor optimizing the cutting process of Radix Isatidis, the influence of cutting process on the whole chemical constituents was studied by comparing the difference of HPLC fingerprints of Radix Isatidis from various sources before and after cutting.

METHODL9(3(4)) orthogonal table were designed with three factors: The amount of solvent, soaking time and thickness of pieces. According to the amount of water-soluble extraction, orthogonal design was applied to processing; Fingerprints of acetoacetate extraction from 9 batches of Radix Isatidis from various sources before and after cutting were established with a High Performance Liquid Chromatography method based on a Agilent Zorbax SB-C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) with gradient elution solvent system composed of acetonitrile-water solution; the detection wave length was set at 238 nm; sample injection was 10 microL. The fingerprints were compared with similarity evaluation software published by the Committee of China Codex.

RESULTThe best process of cutting was following: the amount of solvent was 0.6 times of amount of Radix Isatidis, soaked for 24 h and the thickness of piece was 2 mm.

CONCLUSIONThe obvious difference is displayed by the comparing of HPLC fingerprints. It is indicated that the constituents in polarity medium lost a lot after cutting process.