Quantitative evaluation main of the components in Paeoniae Radix Alba–Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma herbal pair by high‐performance liquid chromatography

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of compatibility on the contents of main compounds in Paeoniae Radix Alba and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma. Ten compounds were separated on an Inertsil ODS-SP Extend C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) and detected by a diode array detector with the mobile phase consisting of aqueous phosphoric acid (0.1%, v/v; A) and acetonitrile (B) by linear gradient elution. All analytes showed good linearity over a wide concentration range (r(2) ≥ 0.9989). The limits of detection and quantification were <8.10 and 10.80 μg/mL, respectively. The intra- and interday variations were <4.36%. The average recoveries were observed from 94.90 to 103.38%, with relative standard deviation ranging from 1.23 to 3.15% for the analytes. The established method was reliable enough for global quality evaluation of Paeoniae Radix Alba, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, and their co-decoctions.