High-performance thin-layer chromatographic quality and quantification analysis of three active compounds in Euphorbia sororia

Abstract

In this study, three active components, namely, kaempferol, scopoletin, and vanillic acid, in the ethyl acetate extract of the herb Euphorbia sororia were identified and quantitatively analyzed by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), which is used to identify the authenticity and quality of medicines. Experiments were performed to optimize a highly appropriate deployment system with kaempferol, scopoletin, and vanillic acid as reference substances, silica gel G F254 plates as carriers, and two different organic solvent solutions as the mobile phase. A mixture of methylbenzene—ethyl acetate—formic acid (8:3:0.7) was used as the mobile phase for optimizing kaempferol and scopoletin, whereas methylbenzene—ethyl acetate—methanol—formic acid with 7:3:1:0.6 proportion for vanillic acid. Prior to observation, the plates of kaempferol and scopoletin were developed under ultraviolet (UV) light at 365 nm and vanillic acid at 254 nm, and then dried and colored by spraying 1% aluminium chloride—ethanol...