Development of CE-C4D Method for Determination Tropane Alkaloids.

A fast method for the determination of tropane alkaloids, using a portable CE instrument with a capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (CE-C4D) was developed and validated for determination of atropine and scopolamine in seeds from Solanaceae family plants. Separation was obtained within 5 min, using an optimized background electrolyte consisting of 0.5 M acetic acid with 0.25% (w/v) ß-CD. The limit of detection and quantification was 0.5 µg/mL and 1.5 µg/mL, respectively, for both atropine and scopolamine. The developed method was validated with the following parameters-precision (CV): 1.07-2.08%, accuracy of the assay (recovery, RE): 101.0-102.7% and matrix effect (ME): 92.99-94.23%. Moreover, the optimized CE-C4D method was applied to the analysis of plant extracts and pharmaceuticals, proving its applicability and accuracy.

Capillary electrophoresis fingerprinting and spectrophotometric determination of antioxidant potential for classification of Mentha products.

In this work aqueous infusions from ten Mentha herbal samples (four different Mentha species and six hybrids of Mentha x piperita) and 20 different peppermint teas were screened by capillary electrophoresis with UV detection. The fingerprint separation was accomplished in a 25 mM borate background electrolyte with 10% methanol at pH 9.3. The total polyphenolic content in the extracts was determined spectrophotometrically at 765 nm by a Folin-Ciocalteu phenol assay. Total antioxidant activity was determined by scavenging of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical at 515 nm. The peak areas of 12 dominant peaks from CE analysis, present in all samples, and the value of total polyphenolic content and total antioxidant activity obtained by spectrophotometry was combined into a single data matrix and principal component analysis was applied. The obtained principal component analysis model resulted in distinct clusters of Mentha and peppermint tea samples distinguishing the samples according to their potential protective antioxidant effect. Principal component analysis, using a non-targeted approach with no need for compound identification, was found as a new promising tool for the screening of herbal tea products.

Analysis of Organic Acids, Deacetyl Asperulosidic Acid and Polyphenolic Compounds as a Potential Tool for Characterization of Noni (Morinda citrifolia) Products.

Organic acids, deacetyl asperulosidic acid (DAA) and polyphenolic compounds in various noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) products (4 juices, 4 dry fruit powders and 2 capsules with dry fruit powder) were analyzed. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) coupled with a variable wavelength detector (VWD) and electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ESI-TOF MS) was applied for simultaneous analysis of organic acids (malic, lactic, citric and succinic acid) and DAA. An RP-HPLC method with diode-array detector (DAD) was developed for the analysis of polyphenolic compound content (rutin, catechin, quercitrin, kaempferol, gallic acid, caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid). The developed methods can contribute to better characterization of available noni products that is required from the consumers. In our study, we discovered significant dissimilarities in the content of DAA, citric acid and several phenolic compounds in some samples.

Simultaneous determination of inorganic and organic anions, alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal cations by capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductometric detection.

Simultaneous separation of up to 22 inorganic and organic anions, alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal cations was achieved in less than 3 min in the capillary electrophoresis system with contactless conductometric detector. The sample was injected from both capillary ends (dual opposite end injection) and anionic and cationic species were detected in the center of the separation capillary. The parameters of the separation electrolyte, such as pH, concentration of the electrolyte, concentration of complexing agents and concentration of 18-crown-6 were studied. Best results were achieved with electrolytes consisting of 8 mM L-histidine, 2.8 mM 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid, 0.32 mM 18-crown-6 at pH 4.25 or 9 mM L-histidine, 4.6 mM lactic acid, 0.38 mM 18-crown-6 at pH 4.25. Other electrolytes containing complexing agents such as malic or tartaric acid at various concentrations could also be used. The detection limits achieved for most cations and anions were 7.5 - 62 micro gL(-1) except for Ba2+ (90 micro gL(-1)), Cd 2+, Cr 3+ and F- (125 micro gL(-1)), and fumarate (250 micro gL(-1)). The repeatability of migration times and peak areas was better than 0.4% and 5.9%, respectively. The developed method was applied for analysis of real samples, such as tap, rain, drainage and surface water samples, plant exudates, plant extracts and ore leachates.