Abstract: Three flavones were prepared, isolated and purified from Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC). A two-phase solvent system composed of light petroleum-ethyl acetate-methanol-water (2∶4∶3∶3, v/v/v/v) was used. Within 6 hours, 10.1 mg of heseridin, 49.8 mg of 5,6,7,8,4′-pentamethoxyflavone and 50.6 mg of 5-hydroxy-6,7,8,3′,4′-pentamethoxyflavone with their purities over 97.0% were obtained from 4.0 g of the crude extract of Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae in one-step elution under the conditions of a flow rate of 1.70 mL/min, 800 r/min and the detection wavelength of 280 nm. The obtained fractions were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and identified by mass spectrometry (MS), 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and13C-NMR. The results indicate that HSCCC is a powerful technique for the purification of flavones from Citrus reticulata Blanco.

Key words: 5,6,7,8,4′-pentamethoxyflavone, 5-hydroxy-6,7,8,3′,4′-pentamethoxyflavone, hesperidin, Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae , high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC)