Determination of carboxylic acids content in the herbal mixtures by HPLC

Abstract

The aim of the study was to research the qualitative composition and to investigate the quantitative content of some carboxylic acids in the herbal mixtures with established hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant activity in previ-ous studies in vivo. Materials and methods. Studies of carboxylic acid content in the herbal mixtures were performed by HPLC analysis using Agilent Technologies 1200 liquid chromatograph (USA). Identification and quantitative analysis were performed using standard solutions of carboxylic compounds (tartaric, pyruvic, isocitric, citric, succinic and fumaric acids). Results. According to the results of chromatographic research it was found that the studied samples contain the largest amount of isocitric acid, the content of which was (45.22±0.04) mg/g in the herbal mixture No. 3, (63.65±0.06) mg/g in the herbal mixture No. 4, (7.51±0.02) mg/g in the herbal mixture No. 7, (2.54±0.01) mg/g in the herbal mixture No. 13 and (43.48±0.05) mg/g in the herbal mixture No. 19. In addition, a high content of succinic acid which is an important regulator of mitochondrial dysfunction and fumaric acid which is a powerful immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent was found. Conclusions. HPLC analysis of five samples of the herbal mixture with antidiabetic activity showed the presence of six carboxylic acids. The dominant acid in all samples was isocitric acid. Among the most important for the prevention and treatment of diabetes, high levels of succinic and fumaric acids have been identified and established. The obtained data indicate a correlation between the phytochemical composition of the studied herbal mixtures and their pharmacody-namics, which was previously established.