Objective  To study the correlations between soil factors and effective components of Saposhnikovia divaricata, and screen out the leading factors affecting medicinal ingredients.

Method  The contents of four kinds of chromone (prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, cimifugin, 5-O-methylvisamminol, sec-O-glucosylhamaudol) in two-year-old S.divaricata from 16 regions were determined by HPLC , and 15 soil factors in rhizosphere soil were measured The relationships between chromone contents of S.divaricata and soil factors were studied by correlation analysis, cluster analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.

Result  S.divaricata of Datun Town in Hebei, Jingoutun in Hebei, Yantai in Shandong, Baicheng in Jilin and Wenzhong Town in Inner Mongolia had higher chromone contents. S.divaricata of Longde in Ningxia had the lowest content while S. divaricata in other ten regions had the medium chromone contents. The total chromone content of S.divaricata was significantly negatively correlated with soil conductivity, available phosphorus content and available calcium content (P<0.05), and positively correlated with available manganese content (P<0.05). The 16 regions were divided into four production areas including production area of Changchun in Jilin, production area of Longde in Ningxia, production area of Yantai in Shandong and other production areas (including Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Liaoning, etc.). Available phosphorus, available manganese and total phosphorus contents could explained 71.8% of the information of total chromone inS. divaricata .

Conclusion  There are significant differences in the qualities of S.divaricata from different regions. Available phosphorus and available manganese may play important roles in the formation of effective components of S. divaricata .