Objective:To establish a method to determine the content of glycyrrhizin in compound glycyrrhizin capsules by substitute reference substance. Methods:With salicylic acid as the substitute reference substance

high-performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）was applied to determine the relative correction factor（f）for glycyrrhizin with reference to salicylic acid

using acetonitrile-0.1% triethylamine solution（pH was adjusted to 2.3 by phosphoric acid; 38:62）as the mobile phase pumped through a Welch Ultimate C

18

column（250 mm × 4.6 mm

5 μm）at 30℃. Detection wavelengths were 252 nm and 304 nm for glycyrrhizin and salicylic acid

respectively.The content of glycyrrhizin was calculated by the relative correction factor（f）. Results:A good linear relationship was observed between concentration and peak area for salicylic acid within 35.23～352.32 μg·mL

-1

（r = 0.9999）and for glycyrrhizin within 55.42～554.20 μg·mL

-1

（r = 1.0000）. The average recovery rate of glycyrrhizin was 100.47%.The relative correction factor（f）was 1.7621. Conclusion:HPLC with salicylic acid as the substitute reference substance is an economical

rapid

and feasible method to determine the content of glycyrrhizin in compound glycyrrhizin capsules.