Simultaneous determination of rosmarinic acid, lithospermic acid B, and related phenolics in Salvia miltiorrhiza by HPLC

A gradient reversed-phase HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous separation and determination of rosmarinic acid, lithospermic acid B, caffeic acid, and other phenolic compounds. This method showed a satisfactory result. The limits of detection for these phenolic compounds were less than or equal to 0.05 mg/L. The developed method was applied to the determination of phenolic compounds in the dried roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) and the transformed cells of S. miltiorrhiza. In the transformed cells, rosmarinic acid was the predominant phenolic compound. Small amounts of lithospermic acid B and caffeic acid were also detected. In the dried roots, in contrast, lithospermic acid B was the main phenolic compound and only a very small amount of rosmarinic acid was found. In addition, danshensu and some unidentified phenolic compounds were also detected from the dried roots.