Abstract
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 acid, oxypaeoniflorin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoic acid, pentagalloylglucose,
paeonol, and benzyoylalbiflorin) in these samples were determined by high-performance
liquid chromatography. It was found that constituent 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. lactiflora were paeoniflorin, albiflorin, and pentagalloylglucose, while those in P. vitchii were paeoniflorin, pentagalloylglucose, and oxypaeoniflorin. The peak-area ratio
of albiflorin/oxypaeoniflorin was higher than unity in P. lactiflora samples but lower than unity in P. vitchii, and the ratio can be used to differentiate the origin of Paeonia species clearly. In addition, the former had higher contents in the core wood but
the latter in the cortex.
Key words
Paeonia species - Ranunculaceae - Peony constituents - HPLC
