Abstract
A simple and effective method for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of six caffeoylquinic acids (CAs) in Matricaria chamomilla L. (M. chamomilla) using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode-array detection (DAD) was established. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Waters XBridge Shield RP C18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, 5 μm) with the mobile phase of acetonitrile (0.5% phosphoric acid) and water (0.5% phosphoric acid) using a gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and UV detection at 327 nm. The correlation coefficients of all analytes were 0.999, and the results showed excellent linearity. The lower limits of detection (LLOD) and quantification (LLOQ) of all analytes fall within the range of 0.014∼0.017 μg/mL and 0.068∼0.086 μg/mL, respectively. The extraction recoveries of all analytes fall within the range of 100.74%∼101.55%, with relative standard deviation not exceeding 2.83%. The intraday and interday precisions fall within the range of 0.03%∼0.65% and 0.02%∼0.09%, respectively. This validated method was successfully applied to the investigation of 34 samples of M. chamomilla collected from different geographical areas. The results showed that the established method is appropriate for the analysis of the six CAs in M. chamomilla and helpful for quality assessment of capitula of M. chamomilla (CMC), whole herb of M. chamomilla (WHMC), and related herbal formulas.
Highlights
Matricaria chamomilla L. (M. chamomilla) is a kind of famous herbaceous plant indigenous to Europe
It has been naturalized to many countries and regions of the world for thousands of years as one of the most popular medicinal plants in folk and traditional medicine [1, 2]. e capitula of M. chamomilla (CMC), named as “German Chamomile” in Europe, is included in the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), European Pharmacopoeia (EP), and British Pharmacopoeia (BP) to treat a series of diseases, such as digestive ailments, restlessness, mild insomnia due to nervous disorders, inflammation, and irritations of the skin and mucosa [3]. e dried whole herb of M. chamomilla (WHMC) named as “Yangganju” is recorded in Medicine and Pharmacy of Traditional Uyghur Medicine in Xinjiang China to treat stomach upset, dysuria, skin itching, blurred vision, cystitis, and stomatitis [4]
Sample Analysis. e established method has been successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of M. chamomilla samples collected from different geographical areas, as shown in Table 5 and Figure 2. e results showed that the contents of six caffeoylquinic acids (CAs) in CMC and WHMC collected from different geographical areas were different, and the contents of six CAs in different parts of specific M. chamomilla were different
Summary
Matricaria chamomilla L. (M. chamomilla) is a kind of famous herbaceous plant indigenous to Europe. E CAs represent a class of interesting natural products with wide pharmacological activities including antioxidant [14], anti-inflammatory [15, 16], antimicrobial [17], enzyme inhibition [18], Journal of Chemistry. Hepatocyte protection [19], platelet aggregation inhibition [20], antihepatic fibrosis [21], and anti-SARS [22]. According to these previous reports, the pharmacological activities of CAs were consistent with the efficacy of CMC and WHMC, and the CAs should be the active ingredients. To develop improved solution for the quality evaluation of CMC and WHMC, a simple and effective HPLC method was developed for simultaneous quantitative analyses of the six CAs
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