A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic gradient elution method was developed for the determination of beberine hydrochloride and puerarin in Tangwei capsules. Separation was obtained by using Hypersil ODS (150 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microns) column and mobile phase of methanol and acetic acid, triethylamine water solution. Detection was performed with UV detector at 230 nm. The column temperature was 35 degrees C. The calibration curves were linear within the range of 0.18 microgram-1.66 micrograms for beberine hydrochloride (n = 5, r = 0.9999) and 0.09 microgram-0.89 microgram for puerarin (n = 5, r = 0.9998). The recovery and RSD of beberine hydrochloride were 98.2% and 1.6% and those of puerarin were 97.5% and 1.8%, respectively.