Abstract: The contents of paeonol and paeoniflorin in the leaves of Paeonia suffruticosa from six growing areas were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Both chemicals were analyzed using Waters Xbridge shield RP18 chromatography columns (5 μm, 4.6 mm×150.0 mm) at 30℃ with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The sample loading amount was 10 μL. For paeonol analysis, the mobile phase was methanol-water (45:55，V/V) solution with the detection wavelength set at 275 nm. For paeoniflorin analysis, acetonitrile-0.1% phosphoric acid (12:88，V/V) solution was used as the mobile phase with a detection wavelength of 230 nm. Paeonol and paeoniflorin showed good linear relationship with peak area within the concentration ranges of approximately 12.5~400.0 μg/mL and 50.0~800.0 μg/mL, respectively. The results demonstrated satisfying precision, stability, repeatability and sample recovery. The leaf contents of paeonol and paeoniflorin in Paeonia suffruticosa vary among the six growing areas. Chemical composition analysis of Paeonia suffruticosa leaves, in cases of paeonol and paeoniflorin, provides accurate and rapid quantitative analytical methods for qualitative evaluation and scientific explanation of the pharmaceutical effects. Moreover, it also provides data support for investigating the diverse chemical composition of Paeonia suffruticosa leaves from different areas, thus facilitating their exploitation and utilization.

Key words: leaves of Paeonia suffruticosa, paeonol, paeoniflorin, HPLC