DETERMINATION OF URSOLIC ACID IN ERIOBOTRYA LEAVES AND TERPENOID FINGERPRINTING

The urosolic acid content in leaves of 15 species of Eriobotrya was determined by RP-HPLC, and the terpenoid fingerprints among the species were analyzed based on PHLC chromatogram. The concentration of ursolic acid in different species of Eriobotrya varied from 3.0 to 14.0 mg g^-1 DW. Urosolic acid concentration was more than 10.0 mg g^-1 DW in E. bengalensis Hook.f. and E. salwinensis Hand-Mazz, while it was less than 4.0 mg g^-1 DW in E. obovata W.W. Smith and E. elliptica Lindl. The HPLC chromatogram of most species had a high similarity coefficient with the chromatogram of Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl., but individual species could be distinguished by some characteristics in their chromatogram. Similarity coefficient of chromatogram between E. prinoides Rehd & Wils var. dadunensis. Z. Zhang and E. elliptica Lindl. was high, while that between E. bengalensis Hook.f. and E. fragrans Champ was low. HPLC fingerprinting of the samples was performed with the peak at 8.9 minute used as a reference, the relative retention time and the relative area of peak as parameters. Clustering analysis based on similarity coefficient by cosine of the peak angle and chromatogram correlation coefficient divided fifteen species into four groups.