Recent Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis in the Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicines

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) are generally mixtures of herbal plants or extracts which comprise hundreds of different constituents with widely difference in the content and physiochemical properties. In order to analyze bioactive compounds in TCMs and control the quality, a large number of analytical tools have been developed, among which capillary electrophoresis (CE) has become a powerful technique with increasing importance. Some formats of CE, including capillary zone electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, non-aqueous CE and capillary electrochromatography have been widely employed for the analysis of TCMs. The general characteristics of these formats are briefly described, and their applications to the analysis of TCMs during the past five years are summarized.

Recent Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis in the Determination of Active Compounds in Medicinal Plants and Pharmaceutical Formulations

“…Liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (DAD) in conjunction with a mass spectrometer (MS) is an efficient measure to analyze both known and unknown compounds in a complex matrix [ 10 ]. HPLC is also the most frequently used technique for the determination of active constituents in TCMs [ 11 ].…”

“…The dispersed cation layer (and its hydration sphere) adjacent to the silica surface tends to migrate towards the cathode, resulting in concomitant fluid migration through the capillary. Anions and cations are separated by electrophoretic migration and eloctroosmotic flow, while neutral species only coelute with the EOF [ 11 , 15 ]. In the terms of expanding sensitivity, introducing different additives such as methanol or acetonitrile is a common phenomenon.…”

Identification and Characterization of Key Chemical Constituents in Processed Gastrodia elata Using UHPLC-MS/MS and Chemometric Methods

“…Many studies have been carried out and focused on the differences in composition changes in processed G. elata products [19–22]. Li et al used the UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS method for the identification of 64 chemical components in G. elata by comparing the retention time, accurate mass measurements, and characteristic fragmentation patterns [23].…”

Recent advances in capillary electrophoretic migration techniques for pharmaceutical analysis (2013–2015)

“…CE has also been used for the characterization of herbal drugs including preparations of traditional Chinese medicine or the detection of adulterants in such preparations. These analyses have been summarized, for example, in and are not discussed in the present review either. For earlier compilations of the use of capillary electromigration methods in drug analysis see, for example .…”