Title: Simultaneous Analysis of Saponins in Ginseng Radix by High Performance Liquid Chromatography.
Abstract: The presence of about 25 ginsenosides in Ginseng Radix and their structures have already been elucidated. Although some important neutral- and acidic-saponins have been detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), other saponins have not yet been examined by HPLC. Our present improved method for the detection of ginsenosides by HPLC with a C18 column and a CH3CN-H2O gradient system enabled the measurement of not only the representative ginsenosides in Red Ginseng [20(R)-ginsenoside-Rg2 and -Rh1, 20(S, R)-ginsenosides-Rg3 and -Rs1] but also the minor ginsenosides [ginsenosides-Rb3, -Rg2, -Rh1 and quinquenoside-R1]. Furthermore, the application of this method after a little modification of the eluent in particular to an extract of Ginseng Radix achieved simultaneous separation of 22 neutral- and acidic-ginsenosides. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of ginsenosides using the present method offers an efficient means of evaluating Ginseng Radix and commercial products containing it.