In order to confirm the tradition that bolting Saposhnikoviae Radix could not be used as medicine,the content of four chromone components in the cortex and wood of Saposhnikoviae Radix was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography( HPLC),and the chemical fingerprints were established,12 common peaks were calibrated. The similarity analysis found that the similarity between batches was 0. 115-0. 995,it indicates that the cortex and wood of Saposhnikoviae Radix have certain differences. On this basis,systematic clustering analysis,principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis were carried out with the content of four chromone components and whether they met the pharmacopoeia criteria as the original variables. The results showed that the content of the four components in the cortex of Saposhnikoviae Radix was much higher than that in the wood,and the four components detected were able to distinguish the cortex and the wood of Saposhnikoviae Radix. The results of the study reveal the tradition that bolting Saposhnikoviae Radix should not be used as medicine dut to decreased quality.
Keywords: HPLC; Saposhnikoviae Radix; cortex; stoichiometry; wood.