Abstract: Objective: To comprehensively evaluate the quality grades of 30 batches of San-huang tablets from diverse commercial brands. Methods: Ultraviolet spectrum fingerprint and infrared spectrum fingerprint were developed for the measurement of Sanhuang tablets. To evaluate the quality of the drug samples, SL, ML and α values were computed for each analytical method, and the integrated SL, ML and α values were also calculated by taking the average value of the above-established method. Results: Most of the samples were qualified（quality grade≤5）after the use of integrated method. Conclusion: Any detection method is single and onesided, and could not overall characterize the tested samples, which reminds us that it is essential to adopt multi-approaches to disclose the quality information of traditional Chinese medicine and herbal preparations. The strategy proposed in this study provides a simple, fast, comprehensive and objective approach for the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine and herbal preparations from both the qualitative and quantitative aspects, in the case that complex components are not yet completely separated.

Key words: San-huang tablets, ultraviolet spectrum fingerprint, infrared spectrum fingerprint