Analysis of polyphenols inValeriana wallichiiDC by capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection

Abstract

Summary High-performance capillary electrophoresis with amperometric detection (CE-AD) has been used for analysis of eight bioactive components of the leaves, stems, and roots of Valeriana wallichii DC, after a relatively simple extraction procedure with ethanol. Under the optimum conditions, the eight components can be well separated or (apigenin and luteolin) separated nearly to baseline within 23 min by use of 50 mM borax (pH 9.2) as running buffer and a separation potential of 16 kV. Linearity was excellent over two orders of magnitude of concentration and detection limits (S/N = 3) ranged from 1.7 × 10−7 to 1.8 × 10−8 g mL−1. This method was used for comparison of the concentrations of the bioactive compounds in different parts of the plant on the basis of their electropherograms or ‘characteristic electrochemical profiles’. Assay results were satisfactory.