Improved LC Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Five Active Components in Danshen and Its Preparations

A novel LC method for the simultaneous determination of tanshinone IIA, tanshinone I, cryptotanshinone, dihydrotanshinone, and salvianolic acid B in Danshen and its preparations was developed on a 3 mu m particle-sized ODS short column. The five analytes were well separated within 45 min with good linearities (r (2) > 0.9999), precises (< 4.0%) and recoveries (97.9-105.3%) by a gradient elution of acetonitrile-0.1% aqueous trifluoroacetic acid (v/v). In addition, ultrasonic extraction procedures for sample preparation were optimized using an orthogonal array design. Quantitative determinations on nine herb samples and four preparations demonstrated the developed approaches were suitable for standardization of this herb and its preparations.