RESUMO
Objective:To investigate the effective substance of the choleretic effect of Gardeniae Fructus，and analyze the relationships between its choleretic effect and the HPLC fingerprint chromatogram. Method:HPLC method was applied to establish the fingerprint chromatography of 8 batches of Gardeniae Fructus at different harvest periods. The flow，the content of bile acid，bilirubin and cholesterol in bile were tested，and then the principal component analysis was used to comprehensively evaluate the total choleretic effects of Gardeniae Fructus. After the relationships between the relative peak area of the common peaks and the choleretic effects were explored using grey relationship analysis method，the spectrum-effect relationship of Gardeniae Fructus was established. Result:The order of the contribution of the chemical components to the choleretic effect at the common peaks was as follow（r>0.8）：P9>P14>P26>P4>P30>P6>P1>P10>P5>P24. Among all peaks，the full wavelength scanning results implied that the peaks 9，14 and 4 might be iridoids, and the peaks 26，30 and 24 might be crocins. By comparing with the standard substances，the peak 9 was finally identified as geniposide. Conclusion:The choleretic effect of Gardeniae Fructus may be the results of multiple components and pathways，and the main components in Gardeniae Fructus with the choleretic effect was from geniposide. In conclusion，these results provide a reference for investigating the material basis of choleretic effect of Gardeniae Fructus.