A rapid method for the simultaneous determination of 11 saponins in Panax notoginseng using ultra performance liquid chromatography

A rapid ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with photo diode array detection method (UPLC-PDA) was developed for the simultaneous determination of 11 saponins, namely notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rg1, Re, Rf, Rb1, Rg2, Rc, Rb2, Rb3, Rd and Rg3 in Panax notoginseng. The analysis was performed on Acquity UPLC system with Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column and gradient elution of water and acetonitrile in 12 min. The high correlation coefficient (r2 > 0.9968) values indicated good correlations between the investigated compounds’ concentrations and their peak areas within the test ranges. The LOQ and LOD were lower to 0.2–2.4 and 0.1–1.8 ng on column, respectively. The overall intra- and inter-day variations (R.S.D.) of 11 saponins were lower than 3.1%. The developed method was successfully used for the analysis of saponins in P. notoginseng with overall recovery of 93.0–101.6% for the analytes. The results show that UPLC is a powerful tool for analysis of components in Chinese medicines.