HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION OF GINSENOSIDESUSING PHOTOREDUCTION FLUORESCENCE DETECTION

A high performance liquid chromatographic method using photoreduction fluorescence detection was described for the analysis of ginsenosides. Ginsenosides were separated on an amino column using acetonitrile and aqueous 2-tert-butylanthraquinone(t-BAQ) solution. Column effluent wa s passed through a 45cm-PTFE capillary tube coiled around a 10W-UV lam p to reduce t-BAQ to a highly fluorescent dihydroxy anthracene derivat ive which was detected by a fluorescence detector. The detection limit for the ginsenoside Rg(1) by this method was found to be about 130ng. This method is less influenced by other UV-absorbing compounds compar ed to the conventional HPLC-UV detection method.