Abstract: Objective: To establish a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of 18 polyphenol compounds (protocatechuic acid, gentisic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid, chlorogenic acid p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, m-coumaric acid, o-coumaric acid, t-cinnamic acid, naringin, catechin, naringenin, formononetin, maltol, hesperetin, vanillin, and resveratrol) in different parts of ginseng produced in China. Methods: The contents of total phenolic and individual compounds in Radix Ginseng rubra (red ginseng), dried ginseng, ginseng stems, leaves, flowers and tassels were determined. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a Symmetry?C18 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 5 μm) using a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% phosphoric acid (A) and acetonitrile (B), and the detection wavelength was set as 230 nm. Results: The 18 phenolic compounds were separated within 35 min, with good repeatability (relative standard deviation (RSD) ≤ 3.49%), high precision (RSD ≤ 3.02%), good stability (RSD ≤ 2.58%) and reliable recovery (average recoveries ranging from 84% to 99%, RSD ≤ 5%). Significant differences in the contents of total phenolic and individual compounds were found among different parts of ginseng (P < 0.05), and the contents of maltol and catechin were high in all samples. The contents of total polyphenols in red ginseng, dried ginseng, ginseng stems, leaves, flowers and tassels were (69.47 ± 3.25), (95.04 ± 5.03), (175.19 ± 3.26), (256.91 ± 2.81), (174.40 ± 6.26), and (99.31 ± 2.90) mg/100 g, respectively. Conclusion: The method is simple, efficient, accurate and reliable, and can be used for quality control of polyphenols in ginseng.

Key words: Chinese ginseng; polyphenol compounds; total polyphenols; high performance liquid chromatography