Abstract: Objective To simultaneously determine the contents of emodin-8-O-β-D glucoside, emodin, physcion, free anthraquinone and bound anthraquinone in Polygoni Multiflori Radix from different origins and processed with different methods. Methods The contents of emodin-8-O-β-D glucoside, emodin and physcion were determined on an Agilent 5 TC-C18 (2) (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) column with a mobile phase composed of methanol and 0.1% formic acid solution with gradient elution at 1.0 mL?min-1. The detection wavelength was 254 nm, the column temperature 30℃, and the injection volume was 10 μL. The contents of free anthraquinone and bound anthraquinone were determined using the method for Polygonum multiflorum specified in Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 Edition). Results Emodin-8-O-β-D glucoside, emodin, physcion had good linear relationships in the ranges of 0.674 5~21.584 5, 0.426 7~13.655 0 and 0.200 3- 6.968 5 μg?mL-1, respectively (R2≥0.9991). The recovery was 98.42%, 100.08% and 96.60% respectively. The contents of emodin-8-O-β-D glucoside, emodin, physcion, free anthraquinone and bound anthraquinone in Polygoni Multiflori Radix from different origins were 0.13~2.62, 0.08~0.13, 0.05~0.72, 0.1~1.7 and 1.0~8.7 mg?g-1, respectively. Conclusion This method is simple, accurate and reproducible, which can be used for the determination of anthraquinones in Polygonum multiflorum.

Key words: Polygoni Multiflori Radix, high performance liquid chromatography, anthraquinones; content determination, Origin; processe