Objective: To establish the analytical method for the fingerprint of Rehmannia glutinosa by HPCE and compare the fingerprints of Rehmannia glutinosa and its processed products.
Methods: Based on the mode of high performance capillary electrophoresis, 60 mmol/L sodium borate was used as buffer solution (5% MeOH, pH 9.5). The separation voltage was 20 kV and the detection wavelength was set at 210 nm. Catalpol was used as a reference standard, the chromatographic fingerprint were determined. The data were analyzed by fuzzy cluster and fingerprint similarity evaluation software was used to compare the similarity of samples.
Results: HPCE fingerprints with 7 common peaks of Rehmannia glutinosa were established preliminarily. It was discovered that a small number of samples differed from others. Regarding to the fingerprints of Rehmannia glutinosa and its processed products, there were obvious differences in the relative areas of common peaks.
Conclusion: The method is reliable, accurate and can be used for quality control of Rehmannia glutinosa.