[Evaluations of saponin properties of HPLC analysis of Platycodon grandiflorum A.DC].

Platycodon root, one of the most important Chinese herbal medicines, has been used as an antiphlogistic, antitusivie, and expectorant agent since ancient times. In the Japanese Pharmacopoeia XIV this is listed as the root of Platycodon grandiflorum A. De Candolle (Campanulaceae) and called KIKYOU (Platycodi Radix) in Japanese. HPLC analysis showed that commercial samples of P. Radix all contained platycodins, and a total of 12 peaks were identified by co-HPLC analysis with authentic samples isolated earlier from this laboratory. The peak purity and identity were checked with a photodiode array detector. The contents of the major saponins, platycodins A, C, and D, were determined and the peak-area ratios of platycodins A, C, and D, were shown to be correlated with their sources of origin. Fourteen commercial samples of Platycodon root, the origin of which was Platycodon grandiflorum, were collected from China (5 samples), Korea (5 samples), and Japan (4 samples). The commercial samples from China, Korea, and Japan each gave a distinct HPLC pattern with peak-area ratio of platycodins A, C, and D, of 1:2:3 and 2:8:1, respectively. HPLC analysis showed that those on the Japanese market were either imported from China or Korea based upon their HPLC patterns.