[Practical optimization of the two-dimensional thin-layer chromatographic separation of ginsenosides]

A computer-assisted method is presented for optimization of mobile phase selection for separation of the mixture of ginsenosides in two-dimensional TLC. This method bases on the correlation between the proportions of mobile phases and the retention values Rf of ginsenosides, and uses Dmin(the minimum distance of two spots) as the selection criterion with a two factor (Xs, Ys) statistical scanning technique. The experimental results, from which we observe that more new spots are separated than on one-dimensional TLC, are in excellent agreement with the predicted results.