Determination of ginsenosides in medicinal plants and health supplements by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) with reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

A method using dynamic pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) was developed to extract ginsenosides in Panax ginseng, American ginseng, and health supplement products with methanol. The extraction efficiency of PLE was comparable to that obtained by Soxhlet extraction. The method precision (RSD) was found to vary from 1.5 to 13.0% for the various ginsenosides, higher RSD values were observed for lower level ginsenosides present in the medicinal plants or health supplement products. Separation of ginsenosides in the methanolic extracts was achieved with a water-acetonitrile gradient system using a C-18 reversed phase column.