Editor's Note: This research used Uncaria stem with hooks to discriminate its five botanical origins and to quantify its characteristic components in the chromatogram. The results showed that only the Uncaria stem with hooks from Uncaria rhynchophylla showed the presence of nine alkaloids. The results also showed that the total content of indole alkaloids tended to decrease with an increase in the hook diameter. This showed that the characteristic chromatogram is practical for controlling the quality of traditional Chinese medicines with multiple botanical origins.


Planta Medica
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-123827
2017


It remains a challenge to establish new monographs for herbal drugs derived from multiple botanical sources. Specifically, the difficulty involves discriminating and quantifying these herbs with components whose levels vary markedly among different samples. Using  Uncaria  stem with hooks as an example, a characteristic chromatogram was proposed to discriminate its five botanical origins and to quantify its characteristic components in the chromatogram. The characteristic chromatogram with respect to the components of  Uncaria  stem with hooks with the five botanical origins was established using 0.02% diethylamine and acetonitrile as the mobile phase. The total analysis time was 50 minutes and the detection wavelength was 245 nm. Using the same chromatogram parameters, the single standard to determine multicomponents method was validated to simultaneously quantify nine indole alkaloids, including vincosamide, 3 α -dihydrocadambine, isocorynoxeine, corynoxeine, isorhynchophylline, rhynchophylline, hirsuteine, hirsutine, and geissoschizine methyl ether. The results showed that only the  Uncaria  stem with hooks from  Uncaria rhynchophylla , the most widely used in the herbal market, showed the presence of these nine alkaloids. The conversion factors were 1.27, 2.32, 0.98, 1.04, 1.00, 1.02, 1.26, 1.33, and 1.25, respectively. The limits of quantitation were lower than 700ng/mL. The total contents of 31 batches of  Uncaria  stem with hooks were in the range of 0.1-0.6%, except for  Uncaria hirsuta  Havil and  Uncaria sinensis  (Oliv.) Havil. The results also showed that the total content of indole alkaloids tended to decrease with an increase in the hook diameter. This showed that the characteristic chromatogram is practical for controlling the quality of traditional Chinese medicines with multiple botanical origins.

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