OBJECTIVE

2

To evaluate the quality of

Prunella vulgaris

by entropy weight method combined with grey correlation degree analysis method by determining the contents of rosmarinic acid， total flavonoids， water and water-soluble extract.

METHODS

2

The content of rosmarinic acid was determined by HPLC； the content of total flavonoids was determined by UV spectrophotometry； the contents of water and water-soluble extract were determined according to the general rules of

Chinese Pharmacopoeia

（part Ⅳ）. The weight coefficients of four indexes as rosmarinic acid were calculated by entropy weight method， and the relative correlation degree of each index was analyzed by grey correlation degree analysis method， and the quality of 117 batches of

P. vulgaris

was ranked.

RESULTS

2

The contents of rosmarinic acid， total flavonoids， water and water-soluble extractive were 0.237 1%-0.943 0%， 2.923 6%-6.400 7%， 8.736 7%-12.446 3%， 11.638 8%-19.166 2%， respectively. The weight coefficients were 0.297 1， 0.277 5， 0.163 7 and 0.261 6， respectively. The relative correlation degrees were 0.159 3-0.616 3， and the correlation degree of S24 batch of samples was the highest （0.616 3）； that of

P. vulgaris

from Nanjing of Jiangsu Province ranged from 0.500 9 to 0.616 3， ranking the first.

CONCLUSIONS

2

Using the contents of rosmarinic acid， total flavonoids， water and water-soluble extract as indexes， entropy weight method and grey correlation degree analysis method can be used to evaluate the quality of

P. vulgaris

. The quality of different batches of

P. vulgaris

are different， and the quality of

P. vulgaris

produced in Nanjing of Jiangsu Province is the best.