Application of quantitative 1H-NMR method to determination of gentiopicroside in Gentianae radix and Gentianae scabrae radix.

A quantitative (1)H-NMR method (qHNMR) was used to measure gentiopicroside content in Gentianae radix and Gentianae scabrae radix. Gentiopicroside is a major component of Gentianae radix and Gentianae scabrae radix. The purity of gentiopicroside was calculated from the ratio of the intensity of the H-3 signal at δ 7.44 ppm or the H-8 signal at δ 5.78 ppm in methanol-d 4 of gentiopicroside to that of a hexamethyldisilane (HMD) signal at 0 ppm. The concentration of HMD was corrected with SI traceability by using potassium hydrogen phthalate of certified reference material (CRM) grade. As a result, the gentiopicroside content in two lots of Gentianae radix as determined by qHNMR was found to be 1.76 and 2.17 %, respectively. The gentiopicroside content in two lots of Gentianae scabrae radix was 2.73 and 3.99 %, respectively. We demonstrated that this method is useful for the quantitative analysis of crude drugs.