Studies on chemical constituents about anthraquinones of aerial part of Rheumofficinale Baill.

Objective: To compare the contents of anthraquinones in various parts of root and leaf of Rheum officinale Baill..Methods: Total anthraquinone and free anthraquinone were investigated with UV and the contents of aloe-emodin,rhein,emodin,chrysophanol and physcione were quantified with HPLC.Results: The content of total anthraquinones and free anthraquinones in root was higher than that in leaf,while the content of emodin,chrysophanol in leaf was far higher than that in other components,which were 0.05% and 0.03%.Conclusion: anthraquinones of aerial part of Rheum officinale Baill.are less than root,while it can be used as alternative resources of officinal parts.