Quantitative analysis of aglycone quercetin in mulberry leaves (Morus alba L.) by capillary zone electrophoresis

Abstract

A capillary zone electrophoresis method was established for analysis of aglycone quercetin in mulberry leaves (Morus alba L.). The influence of, e.g., background electrolyte concentrations and pH, surfactant concentrations, organic solvents, temperature, and voltage on the separation of aglycone quercetin, rutin, quercitrin, kaempferol, catechin, and gallic acid was systematically investigated. The optimum condition providing baseline separation of all compounds within 16.5 min was obtained in 150 mM boric acid (pH 10.0) using a fused-silica capillary with an effective length of 42.5 cm (50 μM inner diameter), temperature of 32°C, and voltage of 15 kV. Method assessment was performed by standard addition method using rutin as an internal standard. Linearity of the method was excellent (r2 >0.999 over the concentration tested (40-160 μg/mL). The relative standard deviations (%RSDs) from injection, intraday, and interday precision were less than 2,5%. Recoveries were good (≈ 100.0%,%RSD = 0.8%) with a limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.86 and 3.16 μg/mL (%RSD = 1.8%), respectively. The aglycone quercetin found in the mulberry leaves was 0.452 g/100 g (%RSD = 0.6%) on dry weight.