Analytical Sciences

Quantitative ¹H NMR for the Direct Quantification of Saikosaponins in Bupleurum chinense DC.

Hua ZHAO,*1,*2 Xiaohui WANG,*1 Yuli ZHANG,*2 Xiaowan HUANG,*3 Yaling JIANG,*1 Huan MA,*4 Li AN,*4 Xujin WU,*4 and Qiang WANG*1,*2,*3

*1 School of Pharmacy and Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Industrial Technology, Zhengzhou 451100, China
*2 High & New Technology Research Center of Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
*3 Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
*4 Key Laboratory of Grain Quality and Safety and Testing of Henan Province, Institute of Quality Standard and Testing Technology for Agro-products, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China

Saikosaponin a and saikosaponin d are used as chemical standards for the quality evaluation of Bupleurum chinense DC. by the high-performance liquid chromatography method in current Chinese Pharmacopoeia. However, other saikosaponins, such as saikosaponin c and saikosaponin b₂, also possess pharmaceutical activity, but are not used as chemical standards. In this study, a quantitative proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) method was developed to determine the total mass percentage (mg/g) of SSa, SSb₁, SSb₂ and SSd in B. chinense DC., using the H-24 (δ_H 0.71) signal. Furthermore, the molality (mol/kg) of type I saikosaponins (epoxy-ether structure) was also determined by quantitative ¹H NMR in the area of H-11 (δ_H 5.95) for a more accurate quality evaluation. Validation of the method confirmed that it has acceptable selectivity, precision, stability, and repeatability. The results indicated that this method has the potential to be a reliable method for the quantification of saikosaponins in Bupleurum scorzonerifolium Willd., vinegar baked B. chinense DC. and B. scorzonerifolium Willd., Chaihu Koufuye (oral liquid of Chaihu).

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