Objective: Using HPLC-UV and HPLC-FLED methods to determine the content of five anthraquinones in Chinese rhubarb. Method: HPLC-UV and HPLC-FLED were used to determine the concentrations of aloe-emodin

rhein

emodin

chrysophanol

and physcion in the rhubarb. The separation was performed on a Venusil XBP-C18(4.6 mm×250 mm

5 μm) column with methanol-0.1% phosphoric acid (80:20) as mobile phase. The flow rate was 1.0 mL·min-1. The detection wavelength for UV detector was 254 nm. The excitation wavelength and emission wavelength for fluorescence detector were 435 nm and 515 nm

respectively. Result: Aloe-emodin

rhein

emodin

chrysophanol

and physcion determined by HPLC-UV were in good linearity over the ranges of 14.6-146.4 ng (r=0.999 7)

39.0-390.4 ng (r=0.999 7)

36.8-368.0 ng (r=0.999 4)

17.0-170.4 ng (r=0.999 4)

and 19.2-192.0 ng (r=0.999 4)

respectively

and that determined by HPLC-FLED were in good linearity over the ranges of 3.7-292.8(r=0.999 4)

9.8-780.8(r=0.999 5)

9.2-736.0(r=0.999 4)

4.3-340.8(r=0.999 7)

and 4.8-384.0 ng (r=0.999 6)

respectively.Under UV detector

the limits of detection (LOD) were 0.32

0.84

0.61

1.28

2.88 ng

respectively

the limits of quantification (LOQ) were 1.05

2.79

2.04

4.26

9.60 ng

respectively.Under fluorescence detector

the limits of detection (LOD) were 0.03

0.12

0.18

0.09

0.07 ng

respectively

the limits of quantification (LOQ) were 0.09

0.39

0.61

0.28

0.24 ng

respectively. Conclusion: HPLC-FLED without interference from endogenous substances is simpler and more accurate than HPLC-UV

and it is more suitable for quantitative determination and quality control of Chinese rhubarb.