Selective determination of catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid in human urine using chiral capillary electrophoresis.

Chiral CE was successfully applied to the separation and quantification of catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid in some commercial drinks and human urine. Analysis involved the separation of analytes in less than 5.0 min at 240 nm with an untreated fused-silica capillary under hydrodynamic injection mode. The running buffer consisted of 50 mM borate buffer with 3 mM beta-CD at pH 8.35. Detection limits for catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid were 0.028, 0.011 and 0.004 microg/mL, respectively. Linearity was investigated by selecting the ranges of calibration according to the amount of analytes in urine giving correlation coefficient percent (% r(2)) ranging between 99.4 and 99.6 at 99% confidence level. The maximum urinary excretion of catechin and epicatechin were noted at 2.0 and 4.0 h of the administrated dose. Unchanged catechin, epicatechin and ascorbic acid amounted to about 1.500, 8.696 and 0.003% of the administered dose in the 48.0 h urine collection. The proposed method achieved 99.2% completeness (n = 20) in urine media.

Capillary zone electrophoretic determination of phenolic compounds in chess (Bromus inermis L.) plant extracts.

A simple CZE method for quantification of phenolic compounds (vanillin, cinnamic, sinapic, chlorogenic, syringic, ferulic, benzoic, p-coumaric, vanillic, p-hydroxybenzoic, rosmarinic, caffeic, gallic and protocatechuic acids) in less than 10 min using 20 mM sodium tetraborate (pH 9.2) with 5% v/v methanol as a BGE and with UV detection at 254 nm is described. The LODs (3 S/N) ranged between 0.02 and 0.12 microg/ mL. Repeatabilities (RSDs) were 0.66-1.8 and 1.56-4.23% for migration times and peak areas (n = 5), respectively. The method was applied to the determination of phenolic compounds in chess (Bromus inermis L.) after Soxhlet extraction and purification of the crude extracts with SPE procedures. The results compared well with those obtained by liquid chromatographic method. B. inermis was found as a suitable model plant containing a broad spectrum of phenolic compounds in easily detectable concentrations and as a potential source of antioxidants.

Analysis of protoberberine alkaloids in several herbal drugs and related medicinal preparations by non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis.

A simple, rapid, reproducible, and universal non-aqueous capillary electrophoresis method has been developed for the separation and determination of three major active protoberberine alkaloids including berberine, palmatine, and jatrorrhizine within 7 min. The effects of the concentrations of acetic acid and electrolyte, the ratio of organic solvent, and the applied voltage on the separation were investigated. The optimum running buffer was composed of 50 mM ammonium acetate, 0.5% (v/v) acetic acid, and 10% (v/v) acetonitrile in methanol. The applied voltage was 18 kV. The analytes were detected by UV at 214 nm. The linearities between peak areas and the concentrations of the analytes were also investigated, and they exhibit excellent linear behavior over the concentration ranges (correlation coefficients: 0.9975-0.9986). The method was successfully applied to determine the three alkaloids in several families of herbal drugs (Rhizoma Coptidis, Cortex Berberidis, Cortex Phellodendri, Herba Chelidonii, Caulis Mahoniae) and their relevant medicinal preparations for the first time, and the recoveries of the three constituents ranged between 95.6-103.2% for berberine, 97.5-103.3% for palmatine, and 96.1 -103.6% for jatrorrhizine.

Determination of aristolochic acids in medicinal plants (Chinese) prepared medicine using capillary zone electrophoresis.

Aristolochic acids (I and II) are commonly found in medicinal plants such as Radix aristolochiae and have been reported to cause acute hepatitis and end-stage renal failure. The aim of this work was to develop a method for the analysis of aristolochic acids in medicinal plant/Chinese prepared medicine (CPM) using (CZE). The buffer used was 30 mM sodium tetraborate at pH 9.5, detection was at 254 nm, applied voltage at 18 kV and the temperature was set at 25 degrees C. The effect of ionic strength, pH, and applied voltage on the separation was investigated. The precision values (relative standard deviation, RSD, %) for the relative migration time and peak area or peak height for aristolochic acids I and II were found to be less than 0.3% and between 2.6 to 4.0%, respectively. The limit of detection for aristolochic acids I and II was found to be 1.2 and 0.9 mg/L, respectively. The proposed method using pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) with CZE was used to determine the amount of aristolochic acids in medicinal plants or CPM samples with complex matrix and the results were compared with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Method precision (RSD, n = 6) was found to be less than 4% when those from applied to medicinal plants and CPM samples.

High-performance liquid-phase separation of glycosides. III. Determination of total glucosinolates in cabbage and rapeseed by capillary electrophoresis via the enzymatically released glucose.

A selective and sensitive method for the determination of total glucosinolates (GSs) in plant extracts by capillary electrophoresis-laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection was developed. It was based on the enzymatically released glucose from glucosinolates in the presence of the hydrolyzing enzyme myrosinase. The released glucose was converted to gluconic acid (GA) by the action of glucose oxidase. The resulting GA was then labeled selectively with the fluorescent tag 7-aminonaphthalene-1, 3-disulfonic acid (ANDSA). The peak area resulting from the GA-ANDSA derived from free and bound glucose was subtracted from the peak area of the GA-ANDSA resulting from the free glucose in the sample. This gave the total glucosinolates in the sample. The peak areas were normalized to the internal standard, N-acetylneuraminic acid derivatized with ANDSA. The method was validated using four different plant extracts, white cabbage leaves, rapeseed leaves, rapeseed roots, and rapeseed seeds. Furthermore, a capillary electrophoresis-UV detection method for profiling GS in plant extracts was developed. In addition to providing a fingerprint of the glucosinolates in plant extracts, the method allowed the experimenter to rapidly check the various steps involved in the extraction and sample cleanup.