Simultaneous Determination of Anthraquinones in Hedyotis diffusa by LC Coupled with UV Detection

A simple and reliable liquid chromatography method coupled with UV detection was developed and validated for the determination of the pharmacologically important anthraquinones in the total plants of Hedyotis diffusa. The separation of four anthraquinones was performed on a C₁₈ column using an isocratic mobile phase consisted of methanol-0.5% glacial acetic acid (58:42, v/v). The detection wavelength was set at 265 nm. The limits of detection obtained for the analytes were in the range of 0.004–0.012 μg mL^?1. The recovery of the developed method for the analysis of the four compounds was determined and ranged from 95.8 to 103.2%. According to the literatures, this is the first LC method reported for the simultaneous determination of the four anthraquinones and the method can be applied to determine the amounts of the bioactive compounds in Hedyotis diffusa.