A COMPARATIVE-STUDY ON COMMERCIAL SAMPLES OF THE ROOTS OF PEONIA-VITCHII AND PEONIA-LACTIFLORA

A total of 37 commercial samples of Paeoniae Radix (Paeonia lactiflora Pall. = P. albiflora Pall. and P. vitchii Lynch), were collected from Taiwan's herbal market. The contents of eight constituents (gallic ac id, oxypaeoniflorin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoic acid, pentagall oylglucose, paeonol, and benzyoylalbiflorin) in these samples were det ermined by highperformance liquid chromatography. It was found that co nstituent contents in P. lactiflora samples were generally higher than in P.vitchii samples except for the albiflorin/oxypaeoniflorin ratio and paeonol content. The major compounds of P. loctiflora were paeonif lorin, albiflorin, and pentagalloylglucose, while those in P.vitchii w ere paeoniflorin, pentagalloylglucose, and oxypaeoniflorin. The peak-a rea ratio of albiflorin/oxypaeoniflorin was higher than unity in P. la ctiflora samples but lower than unity in P. vitchii, and the ratio can be used to differentiate the origin of Paeonia species clearly. In ad dition, the former had higher contents in the core wood but the latter in the cortex.