Abstract: Potentilla parvifolia,a kind of medicinal plant,was widely distributed in various regions of China with great potential for development and utilization.In this study,a pre-column derivatization high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection method (HPLC-FLD) was developed for the quantitative analysis of three triterpenic acids in the leaves of Potentilla parvifolia with an fluorescence derivatization reagent of benzimidazo ［2,1-b］ quinazolin-12(6H)-one -5-ethyl-p-toluenesulfonate (BQETS).In experiment,an Eclipse XDB-C₁₈ column (4.6 × 250 mm,5 μm) was used,the mobile phase was composed of 5% acetonitrile (A)-acetonitrile (B),the flow rate was maintained at 1.0 mL/min,the column temperature was set at 30 °C,the injection volume was 10 μL,and the detection wavelength was λ_ex = 247 nm and λ_em=401 nm.The experimental results showed that the proposed analytical method had good linearity (r>0.997 5),and the limits of detection were 0.003 6~0.015 2 μg/g.The contents of Rosolic Acid and Pomolic Acid in the leaves of Potentilla parvifolia were 2.28 mg/g and 1.12 mg/g,respectively.Due to its simple,reliable and sensitive,the method might be successfully applied to the quantitative analysis of triterpenic acid content in plant samples.

Key words: Potentilla parvifolia, triterpenic acid, pre-column derivatization, HPLC-FLD