Abstract: This research aims to establish a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the content determination of Loganic acid,Swertiamain,Gentiopicrin,Mangiferin in Swertia franchetiana,Swertia mussotil and Swertia tetraptera,to compare the content difference of the four medicinal components and to provide basis for the resources exploitation.Chromatographic analysis was achieved on a Dubhe C₁₈ column (4.6 mm×250 mm,10 μm).The mobile phase was methanol-0.2% formic acid in water (20∶80) at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min.The column temperature was 35 ℃,and the detection wavelength was 254 nm.Four compounds were base-isolated and the content varies widely among different plants,the ranges were 54.81-109.90,1.09-24.89,1.92-29.51,1.39-15.13 mg/g.It can be concluded that Swertia franchetiana and Swertia tetraptera have high amounts of Loganic acid,Swertia tetraptera is rich in Swertiamain,Swertia mussotil is rich in Gentiopicrin and Mangiferin.The method is rapid and precise.It can be used for the quality evalution and control of Swertia.

Key words: HPLC, Swertia, medicinal components, Content determination