Objective: To establish the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints of Aconitum sinomontanum from different areas

determine the contents of two alkaloids

and provide basis for quality control of A. sinomontanum. Method: HPLC-DAD method was developed to establish fingerprints for A. sinomontanum

and the contents were determined by Dikma spursil C18 (4.6 mm×250 mm

5 μm)

with acetonitrile-0.05 mol · L-1 sodium phosphate dibasic solution as the mobile phase for gradient elution. Similarity evaluation system for chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine (2012 edition) was used to confirm the common peaks in 10 batches of samples and evaluate the similarity. SPSS 21.0 statistical software was used to make principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) for the HPLC fingerprint. Result: The common mode for A. sinomontanum fingerprint was established; the similarity was greater than 0.90 in 10 batches of A. sinomontanum medicinal herbs; 11 common fingerprint peaks were identified

and the content of lappacontine and ranaconitinewas determined. All batches of samples can be classified into four groups by using CA

reflecting the quality characteristics of 10 batches of A. sinomontanum in different areas. Four principal components with a cumulative contribution rate of 89.748% were screened by using principle component analysis to obtain five chemical compositions that could determine the quality of A. sinomontanum.. Conclusion: The HPLC fingerprint

PCA and CA methods can objectively

effectively and comprehensively evaluate the quality of A. sinomontanum.