Journal of Chromatography, 501(1990) 321-332 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands CHROMSYMP. 1737 Simultaneous determination of ginsenosides and saikosaponins by high-performance liquid chromatography HIDEKO KANAZAWA, YOSHIKO NAGATA, YOSHIKAZU MATSUSHIMA* and MASASHI TOMODA ‘Kyoritsu College of Pharmacy, Shibakoen l-5-30. Minato-ku. Tokyo 105 (Japan) and NOBUHARU TAKAI Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Roppongi 7-22-l. Minato-ku. Tokyo 106 (Japan) SUMMARY Octadecyl porous glass was used as the packing for reversed-phase high-per- formance liquid chromatography. A mixture of ginsenosides and saikosaponins (sa- ponins of ginseng and bupleurum root, respectively) were analysed with detection at 203 nm. A well resolved chromatogram of ginsenoside Rbl, Rc, Rbz and Rd and saikosaponin a, bz and c was obtained with acetonitrile-water (25.5~74.5) as the mobile phase. The whole separation was achieved in 20 min with a flow-rate of 1.5 ml/min. Calibration graphs for ginsenoside Rbi, Rc, Rbz and Rd and saikosaponin a and c were linear up to 5 pg. Rapid and accurate simultaneous determinations of the saponins are possible by the described method. INTRODUCTION Octadecyl porous glass (IPG-ODS) was previously prepared as a packing for reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)’ and rapid and excellent separations and determinations of ginsenosides were achieved with the column2,3. Ginsenosides are saponins of ginseng, the roots of zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfed Panax ginseng, which has log been used in traditional oriental medicine. In medicine, several crude drugs are generally prescribed in a single formula. Among the important crude drugs often prescribed with ginseng are bupleurum root (the roots of Bupleurum fulcatum) and glycyrrhiza. Pharmacological studies on these crude drugs have centred on the saponins. Ginsenosides, saikosaponins and glycyr- rhizin were isolated from ginseng, bupleurum root and glycyrrhiza, respectively. They are the glycosides of tetracyclic and pentacyclic triterpenes and the sugar moieties contain glucose, fucose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, arabinose, xylose, etc. Structures are shown in Fig. 1. As the crude drugs are used in the same pharmaceutical preparations, simultaneous determinations of the saponins are often required. This paper describes 0021-9673/90/%03.50 0 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.