A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography （RP-HPLC） method with diode array detector （DAD） has been established to simultaneously determine six bioactive compounds in the roots ofllex pubescens, namely tortoside A, （＋）-syringaresinol, ilexsaponin B3, ilexsaponin A1, ilexsaponin B1, ilexgenin A. The RP-HPLC assay was performed on a reversed-phase C18 column with a gradient elution. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and water containing 0.1% （v/v） phosphoric acid. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min and the detection wavelength was set at 210 nm. The six marker constituents were separated well with good linearity （r2〉0.9996）, precision, stability and repeatability. The overall recoveries were in the range of 99.00%-104.52%. Cluster analysis was employed to analyze 15 batches of samples. The result indicated this method provide an efficient way to perform quality control as well as a scientific rationale for the Geo-authentication of I. pubescens.
Two new furostanol glycosides, aspacochinosides L （1） and M （2）, were isolated from the roots of Asparagus cochinchinensis （Lour.） Merr. Their structures were determined by chemical methods and NMR spectral analysis, including extensive 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Compounds 1 and 2 were investigated for their anti-neuroinflammatory activity in LPS-induced BV-2 cells. Compound 2 showed moderate inhibitory effect on NO production in LPS-induced BV-2 microglial cells with IC 50 value of 32.26 μM.
A new, simple and reliable method using HPLC-UV-ELSD was developed to generate the fingerprint of Ophiopogonis Radix. Homoisoflavonoids and steroidal saponins were determined simultaneously in a single run. A total of 27 Ophiopogonis Radix samples were analyzed, and 18 reference substances were used for the identification of the common peaks. The fingerprint was further analyzed by chemometrics methods including similarity analysis （SA）, hierarchical clustering analysis （HCA） and principal component analysis （PCA）. The results indicated that the combination of chromatographic fingerprint and chemometrics analysis could be used for the geographical differentiation and quality evaluation of Ophiopognnis Radix.
