Objective: To establish a method for content determination of 4 kinds of isoflavones in Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix in Gansu province

and compare the contents of 4 kinds of isoflavones from one year old and two years old samples from different areas of Gansu province. Method: Isoflavone glycosides

formononetin

myrion isoflavones and formononetin were used as the reference substance. Agilent Eclipse-C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm

5 μm) was used with acetonitrile-0.1% phosphoric acid solution as the mobile phase for gradient elution. The detection was conducted at the wavelength of 254 nm. Result: The isoflavone glycosides

formononetin

myrion isoflavones and ononin showed good linear relationship with the peak area at the range of 2.25-0.005 625 μg (r=0.999 7)

2.22-0.111 μg (r=0.999 4)

0.112-0.001 12 μg (r=0.999 9)

and 1.68-0.001 68 μg (r=0.999 8) respectively. The average recoveries of Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix were 95%-105% with RSD<3% (n=6). Conclusion: The method for the content determination of 4 kinds of isoflavones in Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix was simple

accurate and reproducible. It can be used for the content determination of four isoflavones in Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix from Gansu province and its comparative study. From the content analysis of 4 kinds of isoflavones

it was found that the quality of one year old Hedysari Radix was equivalent to that of two years old Hedysari Radix; one year old Astragali Radix had better quality than two years old Astragali Radix; and the quality of Astragali Radix was better than that of Hedysari Radix. The best producing area for Hedysari Radix was Wudu

and the best producing area for Astragali Radix was Tanchang. Formononetin content in Gansu Hedysari Radix was higher than that in Astragali Radix

while the contents of isoflavone glycosides

myrion isoflavones and ononin were lower than those in Astragali Radix. Therefore

the selection shall be made according to the isoflavones content during development and utilization of Gansu Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix

and these two herbs are not suitable for alternative use.