Identification and Determination of Total Saponins from Radix (Pulsatilla chinensis)

In this research, the thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed to identify saponins from root of Pulsatilla chinensis (Bunge) Regel (Pulsatilla chinensis) extracts qualitatively and the total saponins content was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry, and orthogonal experiment was used to optimize the determination condition.The results showed that the Radix Pulsatilla extracts contained Pulsatilla saponin D, A and F, and Oleanolic acid 3-O--D-Pyranoglucosyl-(14)--D-Pyranoglucosyl-(13)--L-Pyridine rhamnosyl-(12)--L-Pyranosine arabinoside.Moreover, the optimized conditions of content determination were as follows: adding 5% vanillic-acetic acid (0.2 mL) and perchloric acid (0.8 mL) for water bath at 90 for 40 min.The content of total saponins from Radix Pulsatilla extracts of five batches was greater than 70%.In conclusion, the method reported in this paper can be used to identify saponins from Radix Pulsatilla qualitatively.The determination method of total saponins was simple and had good repeatability, which can provide the basis for the further study of quality standard of Radix Pulsatilla.