Determination and Comparison of Phytoestrogens in Both Crude and Parched Flos Sophorae Immaturus by Capillary Electrophoresis with Electrochemical Detection

A method using high-performance capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection (CE-ED) has been developed for content comparison of phytoestrogens in both crude and parched Flos sophorae immaturus. Genistin, genistein, rutin, kaempferol and quercetin are important active constituents in this plant. The effects of several factors, such as acidity and concentration of running buffer, separation voltage, applied potential and injection time, were investigated to find the optimum conditions. Detection limits (S/N=3) ranged from 1.1 × 10^–7 to 2.8 × 10^–7gmL^–1 for all five analytes. This method was successfully used to analyse both crude and parched Flos sophorae immaturus after a relatively simple extraction procedure, and the assay results were satisfactory.