Objective:

2

To establish high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) fingerprint of the total saponins from

Aralia elata

leaves

and compare the difference of components in

A

.

elata

leaves from different harvest time and different regions.

Method:

2

High efficiency silica gel G thin sheet (20 cm ×20 cm) was used

with chloroform-methanol-ethyl acetate-water (9.5∶10∶20∶0.5∶5) as developing system

ethanol solution of 10% concentrated sulfuric acid as chromogenic reagent

heating at 100 ℃ in constant-temperature air dry oven until clear spots. The fluorescence HPTLC chromatogram fingerprints were obtained under 365 nm ultraviolet light. Speckle patterns were obtained by software processing and the common pattern was established for similarity analysis and cluster analysis.

Result:

2

The HPTLC fingerprints with good separation and clear spots were obtained and the common pattern of fingerprints was established. The common pattern was composed of 10 common speckled peaks

4 of which were identified for components. The results showed that samples in early August to mid September from different regions had good similarity. 11 samples of different batches were clustered into one class.

Conclusion:

2

The HPTLC method is simple

fast and reliable

and can be used for the identification and quality evaluation of medicinal materials of

A

.

elata

leaves. The

A

.

elata

leaves collected in August conform to the quality standard

so they can be used as medicinal materials.