[Comparative study of HPLC fingerprint between Zanthoxylum bungeanum and Zanthoxylum schinifolium]

To establish the HPLC fingerprint of Zanthoxylum bungeanum and Zanthoxylum schinifolium for finding the difference.

Samples were extracted with 50% methanol 25 mL by ultrasonic wave and then separated on Hypersil BDS C18 (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) column. Gradient elution was carried out with a mobile phase of methanol-water. The detection wavelength was 268 nm, the column temperature was set at 35 degrees C, the flow rate was 1.0 mL/min and the analytic time was 130 min. The software "Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of TCMs" (Version 2004A) was employed to generate the mean chromatogram and carry out the similarity analysis of the samples. SPSS 17.0 was employed to carry out the cluster analysis.

Similarity of Z. bungeanum was 0.909 - 0.992 and that of Z. schinifolium was 0.930 - 0.999. There were 27 common peaks in HPLC Fingerprints of Z. bungeanum and 24 in that of Z. schinifolium. Their HPLC standard fingerprints were obvious difference. They belonged to different categories in cluster analysis.

The method is simple, accurate and rapid. It could obviously distinguish Z. bungeanum from Z. schinifolium. So it suggests that HPLC fingerprints should be one of the quality control indexes of Zanthoxyli Pericarpium.