Determination of Cichoric Acid as a Biomarker in Echinacea Purpurea Cultivated in Iran Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract

Echinacea purpurea (Purple coneflower) is an immunostimulating drug, containing multiple substances. The most important substance in activity is polysaccharide, caffeic acid derivatives (cichoric acid), alkamides and glycoproteins. It is not clear yet, which substances are responsible for activity. Cichoric acid is an appropri-ate marker of the quality of Echinacea purpurea containing product, because it has immune stimulatory ef-fects and it is susceptible to degradation. In this study a TLC scanner system and HPLC method has been used for identification and determination of cichoric acid in aerial parts of Echinacea purpurea. The results showed that the cichoric acid content of Echinacea purpurea cultivated in Iran is about 1.50 ± 0.65% (w/w) which is comparable with cichoric acid content in native plants. The local conditions have no significant ef-fect on cichoric acid content as a biomarker of Echinacea purpurea quality.