【Abstract】Objective: To establish the HPLC fingerprints method of Cordyceps and to determine the content of uridine, inosine, guanosine and adenosine. Methods: The HPLC separation was performed on a Grace Prevail C₁₈ column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) in a gradient elution mode with a mixture consisting of water and methanol at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 260 nm and the column temperature was 25 °C. Results: The content of four nucleosides was determined in Cordyceps from different habitats, and the HPLC fingerprint of Cordyceps was set up with 13 common peaks. Among them, uridine, inosine, guanosine and adenosine were identified. The similarities of ten fingerprints were greater than 0.95 with good separation of each chromatographic peak, and met the requirement of the fingerprints. There were similar results in cluster analysis and principal component analysis of the major nucleosides and the fingerprints of 10 batches of Cordyceps. The results of sample classification in principal component analysis showed a good similarity with cluster analysis. Conclusion: This method showed the information of chemical composition in Cordyceps, with good repeatability and similarity between samples, indicating that the stable chemical distribution and proportion of the major nucleosides in the medical materials. Fingerprints, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, which are applied to identify the different sources of Cordyceps, provide an experimental basis for establishing the characteristics evaluation methodology of medicinal materials.

【Keywords】 Cordyceps sinensis (BerK.) Sacc.; Nucleosides; HPLC fingerprint; Cluster analysis; Principal component analysis;

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