[Determination of acetylharpagide in Ajuga decumbens by HPLC]

To establish a method of the quantitative determination of acetylharpagide in Ajuga decumbens.The chromatographic conditions were as follows: a Phenomenex Luna C18 column was used, the mobile phase was composed of acetontrile-water (15:85), the flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1) and the UV absorbance detection was set at 197 nm.Linearity of acetylharpagide was in the range of 0.6-3.6 microg (r = 0.9993), and the average recovery and RSD were 99.13% and 2.48%, respectively.The contents of acetylharpagide ranged 0.40%-6.39% in A. decumbens. The method was simple, accurate and sensitive.