Abstract: HPLC-UV-ELSD method was developed for the simultaneous determination of astragaloside I,astragaloside II,astragaloside III,astragaloside IV,calycosin glucoside,ononin,and calycosin in Astragali Radix.This method was then used to determine the contents of seven active analytes in four different testing samples.The seven compounds were analyzed simultaneously with an Agilent C₁₈(250 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm) column by gradient elution using 0.3% (v/v) formic acid-acetonitrile as the mobile phase at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min;The detection wavelength was set at 254 nm,the column temperture was maintained at 30 °C,and the evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD) drift tube temperature was 70 °C.The seven active analytes of Astragali Radix can be separated in the chromatographic conditions.Precision,repeatability and stability were good.The developed method was simple,rapid and effective for the determination of the components in Astragali Radix.As a result,astragaloside and flavonoids were higher in the preparation of macroporous resin,indicating that alkalization had an effect on the content of composition in Astragali Radix.

Key words: Astragali radix, HPLC-UV-ELSD, stragaloside, flavonoids, content determination, alkalization