Analysis of Ginseng Saponins by HPLC with Photoreduction Fluorescence Detection

A new high performance liquid chromatographic procedure is described for the analysis of ginseng saponins. Ginseng saponins were separated on Lichrosorb $NH_2$ column and anthraquinone-2, 6-disulfonate (AQDS) solution was added to the column effluent. The effluent was passed through 1.5m-PTFE capillary coiled around 10 W-UV lamp to reduce AQDS to highly fluorescent 9. 10-dihydroxyanthracene-2, 6-disulfonate which was detected by fluorescence detector. The detection limit for the ginsenoside $Rg_1$ by this method was found to be about 350 ng, the dynamic linear range was $10^2$ and the correlation coefficient of the calibration curve was 0.9999.