Objective: To improve a RP-HPLC method of determining piceid in commercial Rhizoma Polygoni Cuspidati.
Method: HPLC method was used, with C18 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm), a mixture of CH3CN-H2O (20:80) as the mobile phase, and detecting wavelength 303 nm.
Result: The linear range was 0.0066-0.0792 microgram.microL-1, r = 0.9999 (n = 5). The average recovery rate was 98.5% and RSD was 2.5% (n = 9).
Conclusion: The method is simple, accurate and reproducible. The contents of piceid in commercial Rhizoma Polygoni Cuspidati from different areas are variable and the average content is 2.23%.