Quantitative Determination of Anthraquinones from Various Species of Cassia, Rumex, Rhamnus, Rheum, Aloe and Polygonum using UPLC-UV/MS

Abstract

Anthraquinones are used as natural laxatives, and widely distributed in different species of Cassia, Rumex, Rhamnus, Rheum, Aloe and Polygonum. Usually anthraquinones are found in the form of aglycone or anthraquinone glycosides in plants. Various case reports of toxicity of natural laxatives are available. Anthraquinone purgatives in excess have caused degeneration of neurons. Toxicity studies separating toxic components of senna's anthraquinone derivatives have been performed [1]. For the purpose of quantitative determination of anthraquinones and chemical fingerprint analysis of plants containing anthraquinones, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a PDA detector and a mass spectrometry (UPLC-UV/MS) method has been developed to characterize sennoside B (1), sennoside A (2), aloin B (3), aloin A (4), aloe emodin (5), rhein (6), danthron (7), emodin (8), chrysophanol (9) and physcion (10). The separation was achieved using C-18 column material. Mobile phase is composed of water and acetonitrile, both containing formic acid. The column temperature was maintained at 40°C. The method was validated for linearity, repeatability, limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ). The developed method is useful for chemical fingerprint analysis of various species of Cassia, Rumex, Rhamnus, Rheum, Aloe and Polygonum, and also successfully applied for the analysis of herbal dietary supplements containing species of Cassia and Rhamnus.