Objective: To evaluate the quality of Rabdosia rubescens from different varieties collected in Jiyuan of Henan Province. Method: According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010 edition)

HPLC was used to investigate the content of oridonin in 34 different varieties with oridonin as control. The analytical column was a Agilent TC-C18(4.6 mm×250 mm

5 μm)

mobile phase:methanol-water(55: 45)

UV detection wavelength 239 nm

the flow rate was 1 mL·min-1

and the temperature of column was 25℃. The regression equation was Y=1 006X+9.046(r=0.999 9)

which showed the good linear relation in the range of 0.488-0.88 μg

and the average recovery was 98.80%

the repetitive RSD was 2.17%. Result: There were significant differences in the content of oridonin of R. rubescens from different varieties

the minimum content was 0.63%

and the highest content was 1.98%.The content of oridonin in all samples accorded with the pharmacopeia standards. Conclusion: The oridonin was a main active ingredient in this plant

it could be used as an important indicator for the quality evaluation.This method of quality evaluation was simple

reproducible and which had a high degree of separation.It provided scientific basis for the assessment of the quality of R. rubescens.