Determination of arctiin and arctigenin in Fructus Arctii by reverse-phase HPLC.

The fruits of Arctium lappa L. is an often-used herbal drug in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of common cold caused by wind and heat. This drug contained many constituents, principally arctiin, with arctigenin in smaller amount. In this work, arctiin has been isolated from the fruits of Arctium lappa, and then enzymolyzed into arctigenin. The obtained arctiin and arctigenin were characterized and then used as standards for their determination in the crude drug by HPLC. The method is simple, rapid and accurate.