Simultaneous determination of five phenylethanoid glycosides in small-leaved Kudingcha from the Ligustrum genus by UPLC/PDA

A quantitative method using ultra performance liquid chromatography with a photodiode array detector (UPLC/PDA) was established for the analysis of the five main phenylethanoid glycosides in small-leaved Kudingcha from the genus Ligustrum and was applied as a quality control for small-leaved Kudingcha. Acteoside (1), ligupurpuroside A (2), isoacteoside (3), lipedoside A-I (4), and ligupurpuroside B (5) were separated using a mobile phase of water/phosphoric acid and acetonitrile with a Waters Acquity BEH C18 column. The method was validated according to regulatory guidelines with respect to precision, accuracy and linearity. The five phenylethanoid glycosides in 38 batches of small-leaved Kudingcha were determined by this method. As a result, Ligustrum robustum (syn. Ligustrum purpurascens), which contains a large amount of phenylethanoid glycosides, was tentatively determined to be the correct species for the small-leaved Kudingcha.