Composition of flavonoids and phenolic acids in Glycin tomentella Hayata cultivated in various soils

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to simultaneously separate 12 phenolic acids and 21 flavonoids. The separation was performed with a C₁₈ column and a binary gradient solvent system consisting of methanol and water with 9% glacial acetic acid. The peak resolutions (Rs) were 0.51–12.41 and separation factors (α) were all higher than 1. The method was used to survey these phenolic components in Glycin tomentella Hayata. Diadzein was the major flavonoid in the leaves and roots, and gentisic acid and ferulic acid were the major phenolic acids in the leaves. Amounts of phenolic acids and flavonoids in the leaves from varied soil cultivations were in the order: loam > sand > red loamy sand. Flavonoid amounts in the roots also showed the same trend; however, phenolic acid amounts were low and did not present significant differences. Overall, the roots had much higher phenolic contents than the leaves.