Simultaneous Determination by HPLC of Quercetin and Kaempferol in Three Sedum Medicinal Plants Harvested in Different Seasons

A high-performance liquid chromatography method was established for the fast quantification of quercetin and kaempferol in three Sedum crude medicines: Sedi Herba (Sedum sarmentosum Bunge.), Sedi Linearis Herba (Sedum lineare Thunb.) and Sedi Emarginati Herba (Sedum emarginatum Migo.). The column used was a YMC-pack ODS-A (250 x 4.6 mm, 5 mu m), the mobile phase was a solution of methanol-0.4% phosphoric acid (47:53) with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min at 35 degrees C and the detection wavelength was 360 nm. The calibration curves for quercetin and kaempferol were linear over the range of 0.01-0.62 mu g for quercetin and 0.02-0.78 mu g for kaempferol, and the average recoveries were 99.72% [relative standard deviation (RSD): 1.63% and 99.50% (RSD: 1.16%), respectively]. In conclusion, the method established in this paper is accurate and repeatable. It can be used for the determination of quercetin and kaempferol, controlling the quality of the three crude drugs. Furthermore, the experimental data showed that the best harvest season for the three Sedum medicinal species should be the full-bloom period between the end of April and the beginning of May.