Simultaneous and direct determination of oxalic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, vitamin C, citric acid, and succinic acid in Fructus mume by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

A method for the simultaneous separation and direct determination of oxalic acid (OA), tartaric acid (TA), malic acid (MA), vitamin C (VC), citric acid (CA), and succinic acid (SA) in Fructus mume using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with a UV detector in an acidic medium is presented in this study. In the experiment, the optimization of chromatographic conditions (i.e., the pH and flow rate of the mobile phase, the absorption wavelength, and temperature of column) that affect the separation degree and peak shape of organic acids has been obtained. The linear ranges are found to be 0.05-4.7 microg for OA (r = 0.9999), 0.11-10.5 microg for TA (r = 0.9999), 0.114-11.4 microg for MA (r = 0.9999), 0.033-3.30 microg for VC (r = 0.9999), 0.155-15.5 microg for CA (r = 0.9998), and 0.194-19.4 microg for SA (r = 0.9996). For OA, TA, MA, VC, CA, and SA, the even recovery (n = 3) of six effective components are 100.9%, 99.97%, 101.2%, 102.1%, 101.1%, and 100.7%, respectively, and the largest relative standard deviation (n = 11) for the six components is less than 1.7%. The detection limits are 0.01 microg for OA, TA, and VC; 0.05 microg for MA; 0.03 microg for CA; and 0.1 microg for SA. In a single chromatographic run, OA, TA, MA, VC, CA, and SA can be determined in less than 7 min. The method can be used for the purpose of routine analysis and the quality control of a botanic (Fructus mume) containing these effective components.