High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of β-carotene content in four varieties of lotus stamens

Abstract

A high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed to determine -carotene content in lotus stamens.The stamens of four varieties of Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.) and ten samples bought from traditional drug stores were determined.Validation of the method was carried out, the linearity of the -carotene concentrations range from 6.50-58.50 g.mL-1were 0.9997-0.9998. The repeatability and intermediate precision were 0.29 %CV (n=9) and 7.48 %CV (n=9), respectively; theaccuracy was 100.10 %w/w, the detection limit was 9.83 ng.mL-1 and the quantitation limit was 29.80 ng.mL-1. The -caroteneof the four varieties were 465.77-1150.80 mg% (n=3), and of the store samples were 4.70-41.73 mg% (n=3). The resultsdemonstrated that the contents varied according to the variety. The contents in the samples obtained from traditionaldrug stores were much lower that those dried in our laboratory, this might due to the source of the stamens, duration, andconditions of storages.

Keywords

• Nelumbo nucifera (Gaertn.)
• carotenes in lotus stamens
• HPLC method