Planta Med 2006; 72 - P_273
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-950073

Development of an HPLC – method for the analysis of mixture of natural ingredients

S Alaoui 1, A Gomeza 1, S Buchwald-Werner 2, P Fornera 1, A Villar 1
  • 1Cognis Iberia s.l, Pol. Ind. San Vicente, E-08755, Castellbisbal, Barcelona, Spain
  • 2Cognis Deutschland GmbH & Co KG, Rheinpromenade 1, D-40789 Monheim am Rhein, Germany

Herbal ingredients are increasingly used in nutritional supplements and functional foods, products which can often claim health benefits in terms of reducing risk of disease and which are part of the overall well-being trend.

Analytically, these natural ingredients are sometimes very complex due to their unknown matrix effect. In some cases, a mixture of different herbal extracts is needed in order to achieve an adequate level of activity either by a synergistic effect or by acting at different areas in the body to ensure a satisfactory effect. In these cases, the analytical complexity increases with the number of ingredients, their concentration, their polarity, their different responses and their level of interaction.

To ensure the quality of any complex formulation and to fulfill legal requirements, complete analytical control is necessary. High performance chromatography is the most popular method for carrying out analysis of non-volatile natural ingredients. A suitable sample preparation is important to reduce the complexity and ensure a reliable result.

An analytical method for a mixture containing five different natural ingredients – lutein esters, natural vitamin E, bilberry extract, passion flower extract and green tea extract – was successfully developed. The recovery of each ingredient is more than 90% except for passion flower that is lower (more than 70%). This method is suitable for routine quality control of the final product to ensure that the active ingredients are used at the right dosage, and for product stability tests and bioavailability studies.