QUANTIFICATION AND IN-HOUSE REFERENCE STANDARD PREPARATION OF TANSHINONE IIA FROM DANSHEN (Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge) ROOTS COLLECTED IN LAI CHAU, GIA LAI, AND LAM DONG PROVINCES

Abstract

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge., commonly known as Đan sâm or Danshen, is a valuable medicinal herb widely used for cardiovascular disorders. The raw materials of Danshen, originating in Vietnam, however, have remained uncommon and poorly characterized. Tanshinone IIA, one of the major and attractive components of Danshen, has been used as a key bioactive marker that is required by multiple pharmacopoeias. This compound is still available only as a costly imported reference standard, which is a hindrance for both the materials’ quality evaluation and the phytochemical study of Vietnamese Danshen. In this study, the reference standard of tanshinone IIA was in-house prepared from Vietnamese Danshen root materials (labelled as IH-TIIA). This standard evolved into the validated UFLC/PDA method that is used for the quantification of tanshinone IIA in roots and extracts. The procedure for preparing IH-TIIA was also applied to the tanshinone IIA isolated from all of the Vietnamese Danshen materials. All IH-TIIA samples were achieved with high purity, being 98.62% (Lai Chau), 98.68% (Gia Lai) and 98.77% (Lam Dong), respectively. The quantification results indicated a clear regional variation of tanshinone IIA yield, with the roots from Lai Chau containing the highest content (1.24%). Known to be relatively unstable, tanshinone IIA was also subjected the stability evaluation under different storage conditions. The obtained results demonstrated that the preservation at 4^oC without light exposure was ideal for tanshinone IIA.