| Abstract: | HPLC and capillary electrophoretic (CE) methods were compared for the determination of phospholipase A2 and melittin in bee venom. Size-exclusion chromatography on a Tessek Separon HEMA-BIO 40 column requires the use of a denaturing eluent (0.2% trifluoroacetic acid in 20% acetonitrile) to overcome non-specific interactions of some components, e.g., melittin. Reversed-phase HPLC on a HEMA-BIO 1000 C18 column with gradient elution using water-acetonitrile mobile phases containing trifluoroacetic acid and UV spectrophotometric detection at 215 nm permits the identification and determination of the main bee venom components and their preparative chromatography. CE analysis for bee venom components is optimum with electrolyte system of 150 mM phosphoric acid (pH 1.8) with UV spectrophotometric detection at 190 nm. In comparison with HPLC, the CE method is cheaper and faster (6 min vs. 45 min) and the separation is more efficient. |
