[Comparative study on quality of Flos Lonicerae between geo-authentic and non-authentic producing areas].

Objective: To compare the quality of Flos Lonicerae between different producing areas.

Method: ICP-AES, UV and HPLC were used to determine the contents of trace elements, chlorogenic acid, total flavonoids, five iridoid glucosides, hederagenin, and oleanolic acid. SAS software system was used to perform data and cluster analyses.

Result: The results showed that the geo-authentic crude drug was lower in the contents of Cr and Pb but higher in the contents of chlorogenic acid, total flavonoids, five iridoid glucosides, hederagenin, and oleanolic acid than the non-authentic crude drug.

Conclusion: The geo-authentic crude drug of Flos Lonicerae is better in quality than the non-authentic crude drug based on the modern chemical analyses, which confirms the validity of traditional geo-based classification.