Objective: To investigate the content differences of four effective components in different parts of seeds of Euphorbia lathyris in different areas and to be used for total quality control of seeds of E. lathyris. Method: An RP-HPLC method had been developed for detecting. The system consisting of an Apollo C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm

5 μm) and a mixture of acetonitrile and 0.1% phosphate acid as the mobile phase in gradient mode was adopted. The detection wavelength was set at 280 nm and the column temperature was room temperature. Result: The linear response range was 3.23-162 mg ·L-1(r =0.999 8) for aesculetin

3.02-152 mg ·L-1(r=1.000 0) for Euphorbia factor L1

1.84-91.8 mg ·L-1(r=0.999 9) for Euphorbia factor L2 and 3.64-182 mg ·L-1(r=1.000 0) for Euphorbia factor L3.The average recoveries of these components were 98.2% (RSD 1.9%)

99.8% (RSD 2.3%)

100.9% (RSD 1.9%) and 101.9% (RSD 2.5%)

respectively. Conclusion: The method is simple

accurate and reproducible for quality control of seeds of E. lathyris and can be used for comparing the four effective components of seeds of E. lathyris of different parts in different areas.