Objective: To establish reversed phase ion pair chromatography method for the determination of two atractyloside toxicants in Xanthii Fructus. This method will shorten the analysis time and improve specificity compared with the former methods. Method: The chromatographic separation was carried out on Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm

5.0 μm). The mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile-0.12% tetrabutylammonium hydroxide in 0.15% sodium dihydrogen phosphate solution (pH of phosphoric acid was adjusted to 3.5) (39 : 61). The flow rate was set at 1.0 mL · min-1 and the column temperature was 30 ℃

with detection wavelength of 203 nm. Result: Under the above conditions

two toxicants could be well separated in 20 min (11.8

17.8 min

respectively). The actual sample size had good linear relationship within the range of 0.15-3.7 μg (r=0.999 9) and 0.10-2.5 μg (r=1.000)

respectively. The average recovery rate was 101.4% (RSD 1.7%) and 101.6% (RSD 1.2%)

respectively. Conclusion: This method is quick

accurate

specific and durable

which can be used for safety detection of Xanthii Fructus herbs and their preparations.