Objective: To choose the best extraction for paeoniflorin in Paeoniae Radix Alba from different extracting processes and provide the basis. Method: The medicinal materials from original growing areas were extracted by water

enthanol reflux

enthanol ultrasonic extracting and enthanol Soxhlet extracting respectively. The best extracting process was chosen from different extracting processes based on determining the content of index components of paeoniflorin by HPLC according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2010 and verified three times. A Kromasil 100-5C18 analytical column (4.6 mm×250 mm

5 μm) was used. The mobile phase was consisted of acetonitrile and 0.1% H3PO4 (14:86); the detection wavelength was set at 230 nm. The flow rate was 1.0 mL·min-1 and the column temperature was kept at 30℃. The sample size was 10 μL. Result: The determining condition of paeoniflorin was good according to Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2010. The content of paeoniflorin in Paeoniae Radix Alba was 3.02% for 50% enthanol ultrasonic extracting

2.90% for 80% enthanol reflux extracting

2.64% for 50% enthanol reflux extracting

1.83% for 80% enthanol Soxhlet extracting and 1.56% for water extracting respectively. Conclusion: The best extraction for paeoniflorin in Paeoniae Radix Alba from different extracting processes is 50% enthanol ultrasonic extracting.