Development of an HPLC fingerprint for quality control and species differentiation of Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) ex Havil

The stems of Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) ex Havil have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diseases and improve health. There is evident evidence that alkaloids constituents are mainly responsible for the beneficial effects of this plant medicine. The amounts of the major bioactive alkaloids in this plant vary widely with species, habitat, and as such, and establishment of a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint for quality control of this herbal medicine is of particular importance. The most alkaloids are used for medicine treatment and research. On the basis of the chromatographic data, a consistent HPLC fingerprint pattern containing 15 common peaks was obtained. Among these common peaks, four were identified as rhynchophylline, isorhynchophylline, corynoxeine, and isocorynoxeine. On the basis of this HPLC fingerprint and principal-components analysis, the quality of fifteen samples from different producing areas of China was objectively assessed. To summarize, the data described in this study offer valuable information for quality control and proper use of U. rhynchophylla (Miq.) ex Havil.