Abstract: In this study,a new high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the detection of chemical constituents of Stemona tuberosa. The influence of mobile phase composition and pH value on HPLC behavior of alkaloid and non-alkaloid components of S.tuberosa was examined.In addition,pH gradient elution was applied to separate the non-alkaloid constituents of S.tuberosa from different habitats for the first time. The results showed that mobile phase composition and pH value had large impact on the HPLC behavior of chemical constituents of S.tuberosa. In particular,the pH value of mobile phases had a greater impact on the peak shape of alkaloids and retention times of non-alkaloid.Meanwhile,the alkaloid constituents of S.tuberosa from different habitats were very different,but non-alkaloid constituents were similar.The baseline of the developed method did not have significant drift under the optimized conditions.

Key words: Stemona tuberosa Lour, HPLC, pH gradient, fingerprint