Objective: To establish a systematic quality control method for Dioscorea cirrhosa and improve its quality controllability. Method: Microscopic identification method was applied to identify the powder microscopic characteristics of D. cirrhosa; and thin layer chromatography (TLC) was applied to identify its thin layer chromatography

and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was employed to determinate the contents of catehin and epicatechin in D. cirrhosa. The contents of water

total ash

acid insoluble ash and alcohol-soluble extractives were measured based on Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 version. Result: The obvious microscopic characteristics

such as needle-like calcium oxalate crystals

starch granules and stone cells were observed. The spots in TLC chromatograms of D. cirrhosa were clear

with spot color and Rf value consistent with those of the controls HPLC results showed that catehin and epicatechin were well separated and there were good linear relationships (r=0.999 9) at the ranges within 4.900-196.0

5.020-200.8 mg·L-1 respectively. The average recoveries of catehin and epicatechin were 99.67% and 99.25%

respectively

RSDof 1.5% and 1.6% respectively

with a high precision

repeatability and stability. The contents of catehin and epicatechin were in the range of 0.553 2-10.25 mg·g-1 and 0.646 1-11.06 mg·g-1 in different batches of D. cirrhosa. The average mass fraction of water

total ash

acid insoluble ash and alcohol-soluble extractives were 16.3%

3.97%

1.41% and 20.3%

respectively in 10 batches of samples. Conclusion: The method was simple

accurate and reliable

and can provide reference and basis for more effective quality control of D. cirrhosa.