Study on the rule of influence of two purification methods on the chemical compositions in aqueous solution of paeoniae radix alba

OBJECTIVE: To explore the rule of influence of chitosan flocculation clarification and alcohol precipitation on the chemical compositions in aqueous extract of Paeoniae Radix Alba. METHODS: The fingerprints of aqueous extracts of Radix Paeoniae Alba were established by HPLC method, and the influences of the two purification methods on the chemical compositions in aqueous extract of Paeoniae Radix Alba were compared with the apparent content and relative apparent content of the composition as evaluation indexes. RESULTS: The chitosan flocculation clarification was superior to alcohol precipitation for keeping the polar compositions in aqueous extract, close to alcohol precipitation for keeping the medium polar compositions, and inferior to alcohol precipitation for keeping the lower polar compositions. CONCLUSION: The experiment result provides evidence for reasonably selecting above two purification methods to purify aqueous extract of Chinese medicinal herbs.