Quality evaluation for Dipacus asperoides from Enshi areas and optimization extraction of saponins and organic acids and its application

Dipacus asperoides (DA), a traditional perennial herb, has distributed wildly in China, especially Wuhe Xuduan known as genuine herb. To evaluate DA’s quality, we collected ten samples from eight counties in Enshi and determined the contents of total saponins (TS) and asperosaponin VI (Asp. VI) using vanillin - glacial acetic acid - perchloric acid with spectrophotometry and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) separately. Subsequently, we carried out the optimization extraction of TS, Asp. VI and several organic acids such as loganic acid (LA), chlorogenic acid (ChA) and caffeic acid (CA) in the cultivated DA root grown at Hefeng and the optimized method was applied to detect the contents of TS, LA, ChA, CA and Asp. VI in flowers, leaves, stem and root of the wild and cultured DA. The results showed that DA grown at Hefeng was superior to the other samples according to the two characteristic components. In addition, grown at the same place of Hefeng, the content of Asp. VI in cultivated DA was 84% higher than that of the wild one. Moreover, leaves and flowers were rich in TS, Asp. VI and some organic acids, second only to that of root, suggesting that flowers and leaves of DA would be employed for further application.