Abstract:Objective To establish an high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for measurement of Baicalin, Imperatorin and Shikonin in microemulsion of radix arnebiae oil. Methods The method was conducted on an Diamonsil C18 (5 μm, 250 mm×4.6 mm) with 0.1% phosphoricacid (A) – cetonitril (B) as mobile phase (gradient elution: 0-12 min, 30% B; 12-30 min, 30%-54% B; 30-45 min, 54% B; 45-60 min, 54%-85% B), low rate was 1.0 ml/min, detecting at 254 nm, column temperature 30℃. Results The linear ranges of Baicalin, Imperatorin and Shikonin were 2.073-16.589 μg, 0.023-0.18 μg and 0.081-0.645 μg, respectively, r ≥ 0.9999. The average recoveries (n = 6) of the three chemicals were 95.79%, 99.04%, 97.32%, respectively. RSD of Baicalin, Imperatorin and Shikonin was 3.23%, 3.07%, 2.71%, respectively. Conclusions HPLC is accurate, sensitive and specific for quality control of microemulsion of radix arnebiae oil.