Abstract: The epidermis of Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf was used as the raw material to separate and prepare poricoic acid A and poricoic acid B by high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC). Total triterpenoids were extracted with n-butanol/water two-phase solvent system and fractionated into four peaks by HSCCC using a two-phase solvent system composed of hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and H2O (3:6:4:2, V/V) under the conditions of clockwise rotation at a speed of 800 r/min, and a flow rate of 3 mL/min. The four peaks were collected and their purity was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and peaks III and IV with high purity were further identified by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The results showed that peak III was identified as poricoic acid B and peak IV as poricoic acid A, which were 90% and 92% pure, respectively. The results of this study provide a simple and efficient method for the separation and preparation of poricoic acid A and poricoic acid B from Poriae Cutis, which is of great significance for the application of Poriae Cutis in the food and medical fields.

Key words: Poriae Cutis; high-speed countercurrent chromatography; poricoic acid A; poricoic acid B