Characteristic chromatographic profile of Paeoniae Radix and its application in quality control of crude and processed drugs of different origins and processing methods

Objective: To establish a HPLC method of characteristic chromatographic profile for the quality control of Paeoniae Radix.Method: The 67 batches of samples were analyzed on a Polaris C18-A column with a gradient elution of acetonitrile and phosphate solution(pH 3.0) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min-1 and detected at 230 nm.Result: Nine main marker peaks were identified and semi-quantificated.By the similarity evaluation software for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine(Version 2004A) and hierarchical clustering analysis,67 batches of Paeoniae Radix were classified.Conclusion: The method can be applied for quality assessment of Paeoniae Radix.