Development and validation of ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography method for quantitative determination of four target flavonoids components in citrus samples

Abstract

A new method for the analysis of four target flavonoids in two kinds of citrus samples by ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC) method was developed. Main variables affecting the UHPSFC separation were optimized, and under the optimized conditions the four target compounds (tangeretin, nobiletin, hesperetin and naringenin) can be separated within 10 min. The UHPSFC method allowed the determination of the four target compounds in the diluted stock solutions with limit of detection (LOD) ranging from 1.08 to 2.28 μg mL−1, and limit of quantification (LOQ) ranging from 1.45 to 4.52 μg mL−1, respectively. The coefficients of determination (R 2) of the calibration curves were higher than 0.9950. The recoveries of the four target compounds at three different concentrations were in the range of 82.4–117.6%. The validation results demonstrated that the proposed method is simple, accurate, time-saving and environment friendly, and it is applicable to a variety of complex samples such as medicine-food dual purpose herbs and functional foods.

Research Progress on Extraction and Detection Technologies of Flavonoid Compounds in Foods

“…Compared with the HPLC method, the SFC approach showed a shorter analysis time and a lower consumption of organic solvents. Li et al [120] developed an efficient ultra-high-performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC) method for the isolation and simultaneous determination of four target flavonoids (tangeretin, nobiletin, hesperetin and naringenin) from citrus samples. Compared with other separation and purification technologies, SFC technology overcomes the disadvantages of waste organic solvents, large pollution, and a long time.…”