Paridis Rhizoma is prepared from the dried rhizoma of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis or P. polyphylla var. chinensis. For the improvement of the quality standard of Paridis Rhizoma described in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2015 edition), it is proposed that the quality marker no longer contains polyphyllin Ⅵ, and instead, polyphyllin H is an alternative for the quantitative analysis. To determine polyphyllin Ⅰ, Ⅱ, H and Ⅶ in the Paridis Rhizoma samples collected from the different growing area in China, HPLC method was established using the same chromatographic conditions as those for simultaneous determination of polyphyllin Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅵ and Ⅶ described in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2015 edition). The methodology validation indicated that there was a good linearity among the ranges of 0.006 48-0.828, 0.006 52-0.834, 0.006 17-0.790, 0.006 31-0.808 g·L~(-1) for polyphyllin Ⅰ, Ⅱ, H and Ⅶ, respectively. The average recoveries of four components were 100.2%-101.4%, with RSD less than 3.5%. The total amount of polyphyllin Ⅰ, Ⅱ, H and Ⅶ in the analyzed samples of P. polyphylla var. chinensis and P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis ranged from 0.050 9% to 3.99% and from 0.115% to 3.23%, respectively. In the tested samples collected from other Paris plants, there are high content of steroidal saponins in the samples of P. fargesii and P. forrestii, low content in the samples of P. polyphylla var. stenophylla, P. delavayi and P. thibetica, and almost not occurrence in the sample of P. mairei. As a representative adulterant of Paridis Rhizoma processed slices, 7 batches of Trillium samples contained high amount of polyphyllin Ⅵ and did not have polyphyllin H. Based on the present investigation, it is recommended that polyphyllin H together with polyphyllin Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅶ are suitable for the improvement of quality standard of Paridis Rhizoma and the total amount of four components are not less than 0.80%.
Keywords: Paridis Rhizoma; Paris fargesii; Paris polyphylla var.chinensis; Paris polyphylla var.yunnanensis; Trillium tschonoskii/T.kamtschaticum; quality standard; steroidal saponins.