Analytical method development, validation and forced degradation studies for rutin, quercetin, curcumin, and piperine by RP-UFLC method

SIGNIFICANCE

Curcumin, rutin, and quercetin are well-known flavonoids and piperine is an alkaloid, commonly used as spices and traditionally used to treat a variety of conditions. In the current scenario, the stability problems of phytoconstituents are a major problem for regulators and because of the complex nature of the components of plant extracts.

OBJECTIVE

A simple, fast, and sensitive ultra-force reverse phase liquid chromatography (RP-UFLC) has been developed, validated, and studied for degradation studies.

METHODS

Seven different plant extracts were quantified and the stability of the constituents was estimated by forced degradation studies. The separation of the phytoconstituents was performed on a Phenomenex C₁₈ column with a mobile phase of 80% acetonitrile and 20% (25 mM) ammonium acetate (pH 3) at a flow rate of 1 mL min^-1 detected at 380 nm.

RESULTS

The results of the study showed that the method developed was linear with a range of correlation coefficient 0.994-0.999. The specificity, precision, and accuracy were well within the limits. Quantification showed that a maximum content of curcumin (3.61%, w/w) was found in the extract of Curcuma longa L extract, piperine in Piper nigrum L (13.92%, w/w), rutin in Glycyrrhiza glabra L (15.19%, w/w), and quercetin in Camellia sinensis L (0.36%, w/w). Forced degradation studies have shown that rutin was very stable in acidic media (6.65%, w/w) and curcumin was less stable in alkaline media (100%, w/w).

CONCLUSION

The method developed was simple, fast, accurate, sensitive, and applicable for the determination of phytoconstituents in natural extracts and herbal formulations, individually or in combination and can be used as a quality control tool.

Pigmented contact lenses for managing ocular disorders

Blocking a selected wavelength range from the light spectrum can have multiple benefits. Ultra-violet (UV) radiation is detrimental to the retina, necessitating its blocking through sunglasses and contact lenses. The near-visible light also has enough energy to cause damage but, is typically not blocked by commercial lenses. Filtering light can also be useful to patients with migraines, amblyopia, and color blindness. Here, to achieve blocking, incorporation of pigments extracted from colored agro-products into contact lenses is explored. Pigment extraction from food powders including turmeric, spinach, paprika, and woad powders in ethanol is demonstrated. Lens immersion in pigment concentrated ethanol is done to facilitate swelling, allowing rapid pigment uptake. Pigment incorporation ensures the absence of visible light scattering, lens opacity, and leaching. The characterization of pigmented lenses is done through absorptivity and transmittance measurements. Degradation measurements investigate the stability of the green pigment extract from spinach powder with time. p-HEMA and silicone hydrogels loaded with >400 µg/g turmeric pigment act as class 1 UV blockers retaining >90% visible light transparency and screening >95% of the UVR spectra. Spinach, paprika, and woad powder loaded silicone lenses mitigate >20% visible light transmission from selective wavelengths finding applications in photophobia, amblyopia treatment, and color vision deficiency management.

A Critical Review of the Properties and Analytical Methods for the Determination of Curcumin in Biological and Pharmaceutical Matrices

Curcumin, a natural compound extracted from turmeric (Curcuma longa), has been extensively studied because of its various pharmacological properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibiotic, antiprotozoal, immunomodulatory, anti-proliferative, antitumor, and anticarcinogenic effects. However, low solubility in aqueous media has limited its therapeutic applications. To overcome these bioavailability issues, the use of drug delivery systems providing localized or targeted delivery of this drug may represent a more viable therapeutic option. Several drug delivery systems have been shown to significantly enhance the therapeutic efficacy of curcumin. Additionally, a wide variety of analytical methods are available for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of curcumin in different matrices, including plant extracts, biological fluids, and drug delivery systems. There are a variety of methodologies to quantify curcumin, but chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques are the ones most commonly used. Thus, in this review, we evaluate the biological properties of curcumin, as well as its nanotechnology-based delivery systems and methods of analysis.

Synthesis of curcuminoid-imprinted polymers applied to the solid-phase extraction of curcuminoids from turmeric samples

A molecular imprinting polymer technique was successfully applied to precipitation polymerization by using styrene as a functional monomer, curcuminoids as templates, acetonitrile as a porogenic solvent, benzoyl peroxide as the initiator, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker. The effects of interaction on the adsorption capacity of the molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) and non-imprinted polymer (NIP) were investigated. A comparison of the adsorption capacity for MIP and NIP indicated that the NIP had the lowest adsorption capacity. The curcuminoid-imprinted polymer (Cur-MIP) was synthesized from 0.0237 mmol of styrene, 47.0 g of acetonitrile, 1.0238 mmol of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 0.0325 mmol of curcuminoids, and 0.2480 mmol of benzoyl peroxide. A high-performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection was developed and validated for various chromatographic conditions for the determination of the curcuminoids in turmeric samples. The sample solution was separated using the Cur-MIP via solid-phase extraction and analyzed on a Brownlee analytical C₁₈ column (150 mm × 6 mm, 5 µm) using an isocratic elution consisting of acetonitrile and 0.1% trichloroacetic acid (40:60, v/v). The flow rate was maintained at 1.5 mL/min. The fluorescence detector was set to monitor at λ_ex = 426 nm and λ_em = 539 nm. The quantification limit values were found to be 16.66, 66.66, and 33.33 µg/L for curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin, respectively. Thus, we concluded that the Cur-MIP and high-performance liquid chromatographic-fluorescence method could be applied to selective extraction and could be used as a rapid tool for the determination of curcuminoids in medicinal herbal extracts.

Design and Optimization of Ultrasound Assisted Extraction of Curcumin as an Effective Alternative for Conventional Solid Liquid Extraction of Natural Products

The first step in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of medicinal plant constituents is the extraction step. Ideally, an extraction procedure should be exhaustive with respect to the constituents to be analyzed, rapid, simple, and for routine analysis amenable to automation. Usually, the traditional techniques require long extraction times, with more consumption of energy resources and organic solvent, have low efficiency and are often unsafe for thermolabile botanicals. The Taguchi based optimization technique was adapted for the process optimization of ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) of Curcuma longa to identify the effect of four major factors namely, extraction time, solvent viscosity, grinding degree and solvent volume on the percentage extraction of curcumin. The reproducibility and recovery of the method was also investigated. The efficiency of the new extraction method was then compared with conventional solid liquid extraction procedures. Using this novel method, long hours of conventional Soxhlet extraction were cut down to 70 minutes of UAE with greater reproducibility and recovery. The study clearly shows that this method can be effectively utilized for cutting down long extraction time of botanicals to just a few minutes without the aid of heat.

Microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography for separation and analysis of curcuminoids in turmeric samples

Microemulsion EKC (MEEKC) was developed for quantitative analysis of curcuminoids, such as curcumin (C), demethoxycurcumin (D), and bis-demethoxycurcumin (B). MEEKC separation of curcuminoids was optimized, and a change in resolution was explained using a modified equation for resolution in MEEKC without electroosmosis. The suitable MEEKC conditions for separation of curcuminoids were obtained to be the microemulsion buffer containing 50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 2.5, 1.1% v/v n-octane as oil droplets, 180 mM SDS as surfactant, 890 mM 1-butanol as cosurfactant, and 25% v/v 2-propanol as organic cosolvent; applied voltage of -15 kV; and separation temperature 25 degrees C. Achieved baseline resolution of C:D and D:B was obtained with R(s) -2.4 and analysis time within 18 min. In addition, high accuracy and precision of the method were obtained. This MEEKC method was used for quantitative determination of individual curcuminoids in medicinal turmeric capsules and powdered turmeric used as coloring additive in food, with simple sample preparation such as solvent extraction, dilution, and filtration, and without cleaning up by SPE.