ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effects of chitosan flocculation clarification process and alcohol precipitation process on the principal chemical constituents of water extract of Codonopsis Radix. Methods The influence of two purification processes on water extract of Codonopsis Radix was investigated through lobetyolin contents, extract yield, and relative apparent content of each component in HPLC fingerprint as evaluation indexes. Results Chitosan flocculation clarification process showed a significantly higher extract yield of water extract compared with alcohol precipitation process, and it has a markedly better retention effect for strong polarity constituents; alcohol precipitation process exhibit a little better retention effect for lobetyolin and a better retention effect for weak polarity constituents. Conclusion The above two processes have some regularity in the influence on the main chemical constituents in the water extract of Codonopsis Radix, which can provide some guidance for the reasonable choice of the purification process for water extracts of Codonopsis Radix, and other TCM water extracts.