This study aims to establish a method for the simultaneous determination of 7 active components in Dracocephalum tanguticum and to evaluate the quality of medicinal materials from different habitats. The method was established with high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and the gradient elution was performed with the mobile phase of acetonitrile-methanol-0.2% phosphoric acid solution at a column temperature of 35 ℃, an injection volume of 15 μL, and a flow rate of 0.6 mL·min~(-1). The detection wavelength was set as 215 nm. With rosmarinic acid as the internal reference, the relative correction factors and the content of other 6 components were calculated. The results were compared with those obtained with the external standard method. The results showed that the samples from Huangzhong county, Qinghai province had the best quality, with the highest content of p-hydroxybenzoic acid, cosmosiin, rosmarinic acid, oleanolic acid, and ursolic acid(9.29, 12.14, 6.02, 3.11, 17.67 mg·g~(-1) respectively). The samples from Chaya county, Tibet autonomous region ranked the second, with the highest content of betulin and betulinic acid(15.53, 7.17 mg·g~(-1), respectively). The method is accurate, reliable, and repeatable and suitable for the simultaneous determination of multiple components in D. tanguticum. The content of functional components varied in the samples from different producing areas and can be used as the indicator for the quality evaluation of medicinal materials.
Cinnamates ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/analysis* ; Lamiaceae ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods* ; Rosmarinic Acid